Just as at the federal level, time works to the benefit of gun rights advocates. That and continued pressure from pro-gun groups that reminds politicians how many votes America’s gun owners bring to the table.
Now, more than two months later, DeWine has revealed the details of the draft legislation he wants lawmakers (including skeptical Republicans) to pass. And they’re less strict than what the governor originally proposed.
Instead of near-universal background checks, the governor is now looking to create a voluntary state-level background check process for gun sales between private sellers. Rather than a “red-flag” system allowing judges to order the seizure of guns from people deemed a threat to themselves or others, DeWine is now seeking to expand the state’s existing “pink-slip” law to allow authorities to send people with drug or alcohol problems to a psychiatric hospital, where they cannot legally have access to guns.
DeWine, a Greene County Republican, said Monday he revised his earlier gun plan because of concerns it wouldn’t pass the GOP-dominated Ohio General Assembly. But he said his new plan would “get the job done” and predicted it would pass the legislature, though he said he neither asked for nor received any assurances from legislative leaders that they would approve it.
“Frankly, I think this is a much stronger bill,” the governor said. “I think it’s going to be much more effective.”
– Jeremy Pelzer in Gov. Mike DeWine retreats on ‘red-flag’ law, universal background checks on guns