Ohio Lawmakers Divided on Partisan Lines on Gun Bills
WASHINGTON — If there was a bill introduced this session of Congress aimed at protecting the right to own a gun, there's a good chance Cincinnati Republican Rep. Steve Chabot was a co-sponsor.
Same with Reps. Bob Gibbs, of Lakeville, Bill Johnson of Marietta and Brad Wenstrup of Cincinnati.
The Ohio GOP lawmakers have not been defined by gun issues during their time in the House, but a Dispatch analysis of some of the major gun measures introduced in this Congress found those lawmakers — along with Reps. Bob Latta, R–Bowling Green and Jim Renacci, R–Wadsworth — as frequent co-sponsors of those bills. Renacci is a GOP candidate for governor.
Most of the bills have not gone anywhere, but co-sponsoring a bill is seen as a sign that not only would a member be willing to vote for the bill, they're willing to have their name added to it.
Chabot, Johnson, Wenstrup, Renacci and Latta all co-sponsored, for example, the "Hearing Protection Act," a bill that would remove gun silencers from regulation under the National Firearms Act.
That bill — which was scheduled for the House floor earlier this year — was pulled in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Reps. Jim Jordan, R–Urbana, Warren Davidson, R–Troy, and Pat Tiberi, R–Genoa Township, also cosponsored the bill, which supporters argued would help prevent gun owners and sportsmen from suffering hearing loss caused by the loud noise of shooting.
Chabot, Wenstrup, Johnson, Latta, Renacci and Gibbs are also among the cosponsors of the "Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act," a bill that would allow concealed carry across state lines.
The bill would allow concealed carry gun owners in one state to be able to use that permit in another state with concealed carry laws. Now, such reciprocity agreements are between the states. Rep. Mike Turner, R–Dayton, Davidson, Jordan, and Reps. Steve Stivers, R–Upper Arlington and Dave Joyce, R–Russell Township, are also sponsors of the bill, while Sen. Rob Portman, R–Ohio, cosponsored a Senate version of it. Only Texas, Florida and California had more sponsors.
On the other side of the debate, Rep. Tim Ryan, D–Niles, who once claimed an "A" ranking from the National Rifle Association, now is a co-sponsor of major Democratic proposals aimed at tightening gun rules in the wake of the shooting deaths of 58 in Las Vegas and 26 in Texas on Sunday.
Ryan, along with Reps. Joyce Beatty of Jefferson Township, Marcy Kaptur of Toledo and Marcia Fudge of Cleveland signed onto a bill that would ban "bump stocks," devices that can rig semi-automatic weapons to fire at the speed of automatic weapons. The Las Vegas shooter used those devices in his attacks. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D–Ohio, has signed onto a Senate version of that bill.
And, all four Ohio Democrats co-sponsored a bill that would create a Select Committee on Gun Violence Prevention.
The disparity between Republicans and Democrats could be seen Monday in the reactions to the shootings. While Republicans expressed grief for the loss of those in Texas, Democrats were pointed in calling for an end to gun violence.
"Jane & I are devastated by the news out of Sutherland Springs, Texas," Portman tweeted. "We send our prayers to that community & first responders at the scene.
Tiberi called it "incomprehensible" that a gun man would bring "such evil violence to a place of worship."
"I can't imagine the loss and grief the community of Sutherland Springs, Texas, is feeling," Tiberi said. "My prayers are with them."
Only Stivers alluded to the gun issue, saying it appeared that the shooter, because of his prior record of domestic violence "should not have been allowed to acquire a weapon."
"We need to enforce our nation's laws, and I want to learn more details about what happened," he said.
By contrast, Beatty called for Congress to work together "so that no family has to experience the agonizing loss of a loved one because of gun violence."
"It is long past time that we work together as a country to stop the bloodshed — we owe it to the people of Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernardino, Charleston, Newtown, and Aurora, as well as the countless Americans that are victims every day across the country," she said.
Ryan used harsher language.
"I am tired of turning on the news and seeing innocent men, women, and children having their futures ripped away by a person with a gun," he said. "I am tired of extending the same condolences every couple of weeks. I am tired of the discussion for commonsense gun law reform stopping the second the news cycle moves on to another topic. What happened to banning the bump stocks and strengthening background checks? This Republican-led Congress has utterly failed to put forward a single idea that would help save lives."
Brown, meanwhile, also expressed grief for the families of the victims.
"There are still many unanswered questions and we need to let law enforcement do their jobs," he said. "Still, there's no question we need to have an honest conversation about commonsense laws to keep Americans safe from gun violence."
This article was originally published by The Columbus Dispatch on November 6, 2017.