Does Strickland Favor Looser Gun Laws?
May 21, 2008
I have to admit that I was pretty shocked when I read this Columbus Dispatch article.
A push by the National Rifle Association to loosen a number of state gun laws is drawing heavy criticism from prosecutors and a variety of law-enforcement groups who argue it will make them and the public less safe.
“It seems clear to the law-enforcement community in Ohio that it is the intent of some to do a ‘jam job’ on these extremely important issues,” Mark Drum, a lobbyist for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, wrote recently to Rep. John J. White, R-Kettering, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee.
When Bob Taft, a Republican, was governor, he gave law enforcement a big say in whether Ohio gun laws should be changed, but now the NRA has a rock-solid friend in Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland.
He is not concerned that his support for the gun proposal goes against police officers, police chiefs and county sheriffs, a spokesman said. “As a gun-rights supporter, the governor believes these are reasonable and appropriate protections for gun owners,” Keith Dailey, the governor’s spokesman, said, referring to the NRA-backed proposals.
The article goes on to describe what these new ammendments would do.
Among its changes, the bill would let anyone carry a gun in a vehicle, regardless of whether they have a concealed-carry license. The gun would have to be unloaded and in a case, which could be unlocked.
Hanson said current law, which generally says that non-licensees must transport guns in a trunk or locked case, has been “chewed up beyond recognition” by police officers and the courts.
Law-enforcement groups say the proposal makes it too easy for someone in a vehicle to load a gun. They also say the plan would let people carry rifles and sawed-off shotguns in their vehicles.
The State Highway Patrol, which has been very vocal in the past about concerns over guns in vehicles, is now, under Strickland, declining to talk about the issue.
Some additional NRA-backed changes:
• A sheriff could not consider a sealed or expunged conviction in the background check of an applicant for a concealed-carry license.
• The penalty would be reduced for a concealed-carry licensee who had failed to notify law enforcement that he or she was carrying a gun, if the officer or dispatcher knew the person had a gun license.
Landlords would be prohibited from barring tenants from keeping handguns.
• Law enforcement would be prohibited from seizing legally owned firearms in a period of emergency.
Does Strickland want to take Ohio back to the Wild West?
Carnival Number 118 - The Long and Winding Road
May 21, 2008
The new Carnival of Ohio Politics is up for this week and is great. Please check it out!
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