Ohio Democrats Off Target With Latest Gun Control Proposals

The Democrat minority in Ohio’s House of Representatives are pushing for a new gun control package that stands little chance of becoming law, at least in its current form. 

There are some elements of the package that are worth pursuing, like HB 120, which would eliminate the state sales tax on gun locks and gun safes. HB 235, which also provides a tax credit up to $250 for the purchase of some gun safes as well as handgun training courses. Those measures are likely to win the approval of gun owners and Second Amendment advocates, given that they don’t seek to punish people for exercising their right to keep and bear arms. 

L.E.P.D. Firearms, Range & Training Facility owner Eric Delbert supports these safety measures. He said you can buy a gun safe for your home or car for under $40. 

“If it encourages people to purchase a safe in order to secure that firearm, then it’s a good thing,” Delbert said. “We’re all behind that.”

He said it could also cut down on gun theft. 

“The vast majority of the guns on the streets today, and we see these crimes in the news, have been stolen and, unfortunately, a lot of them are stolen out of vehicles,” Delbert said 

Delbert, however, isn’t on board with another bill being pushed by Democrats. 

Democrats have also introduced House Bill 45 to require a 10-day waiting period on top of the required background check for those buying a gun. 

“Waiting periods save lives,” Rep. [Cecil] Thomas said. “They reduce impulsive suicides. They reduce homicides. They give people time to cool down, to reconsider, to get help.”

“Ten days, why not make it 15? Heck, let’s make it 45 days,” Delbert said. “All it does is impact the lawful gun owners.”

While waiting periods may reduce impulsive gun-involved suicides, the RAND Corporation says there’s limited evidence that waiting periods reduce the overall suicide rate. These laws do, however, impede individuals who need access to a firearm in order to protect themselves from imminent threats. If someone has an abusive ex or a stalker threatening to do them harm, why should they have to wait more than a week to take possession of a gun, especially if they’ve already passed a background check? 

Democrats have also introduced bills that would establish a “red flag” law and increase the penalty for failing to report a lost or stolen firearm from a fourth-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. 

Republicans in the Ohio legislature, meanwhile, have introduced bills allowing non-violent felons to regain their Second Amendment rights, end the sales tax on firearms and ammunition, remove most government buildings from the list of “sensitive places” in Ohio statute, and protect the right of self-defense by creating a “pretrial procedure for a person asserting self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person’s property.”

Ohio has two-year sessions, and the current session won’t wrap up until midnight on Dec. 31, 2026, so it may be some time before the pro-2A bills start to see some movement. I’d be shocked if the waiting period and “red flag” proposals make it out of the first committee they’re assigned to, but Buckeye State gun owners should still be in contact with their representatives and encouraging them to reject those attempts to impose new restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.