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Bowling Green State University recently published a study concerning a law passed in June 2022 that permits citizens to carry firearms in public without a license. In the year since, we are told, there was “a significant decrease in crime incidents involving a firearm” in Ohio’s eight most populous cities.
Gun zealots will surely herald this study as proof that relaxed gun restrictions pose no risk, and Attorney General ...
Continue Reading →We have come to the point that when 18 people are massacred in Lewiston, Maine—or 49 in Orlando or 60 in Las Vegas—we accept it as a way of life.
Well, you know, we have the Second Amendment, people say, as if words written over 230 years ago condemn us, without recourse, to gun violence.
America has a gun violence problem it is powerless to solve, and the problem exists because of ...
Continue Reading →There’s something wrong in America: we’ve come to accept as unavoidable a staggering number of gun deaths annually.
State legislatures, either stymied by the thought of judicial review or fearful of political fallout, are doing nothing, and Republican dominated legislatures promote gun proliferation. Ohio’s General Assembly wants to do away with permits for concealed carry.
Ponder this: in the last two decades 15,000 military members and civilian contractors died in the Continue Reading →
Toby Hoover, founder and former executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, explains what it takes to reduce gun violence and why groups like hers are not trying to take away anyone’s guns.
If you’re not outraged by the nation’s gun violence, you should be. If you’re outraged but doing nothing, recognize that your inaction contributes to the problem. If you’re a state or U.S. lawmaker who follows the gun lobby script, it’s time to acknowledge that gun violence is a public health issue.
Here are suggestions for both concerned citizens and lawmakers. First, the suggestions for citizens.
If you pay attention to the reasoning given by legislators for the bills they propose, you’ll frequently see more anecdotes and personal opinion offered as support than statistics or other forms of evidence. Gun legislation provides a good example.
Pending in the Ohio Statehouse is H.B. 178, which is sponsored by Republican representatives. The bill would permit anyone 21 years or older, who passes the standard background check, to carry a concealed weapon without a license or training. The training required ...
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Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a bill that promotes gun safety in Florida. The bill raises the age to buy firearms to 21, imposes a three-day waiting period on most firearm purchases and bans bump stocks, a device that essentially converts a semi-automatic rifle into a fully automatic rifle. The bill also allows certain school employees to carry guns as part of new school security measures.
Outside of allowing school employees to carry guns, this is a positive ...
Continue Reading →We’ve been taking two ineffective approaches to gun violence. The first is to debate whether we need more or fewer guns. Fearing criticism for not supporting the Second Amendment, legislators are easily persuaded we need more guns.
The second approach occurs after a mass shooting. A new gun law is proposed. We argue its merits, and then Second Amendment concerns swallow the process, and nothing changes.
We’ve got things backwards. We need to research and understand gun violence. Only then can we ...
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Are we safer by making it easier for citizens to carry guns? The Ohio General Assembly thinks so. At least six bills seek to expand the rights of gun owners. There’s ample data to suggest that more guns don’t promote safety and that with more guns the number of unintended deaths increases.
Legislators don’t seem to care about data. Then maybe they should take a minute and listen to what fighter pilots have to say about self-defense in the air.
Fighter pilots ...
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Interested in making a difference in gun policy? Here’s your opportunity.
Join the Ohio Coalition for Common Sense, a state initiative started by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, a Navy Captain and former astronaut. The Coalition brings together a broad cross-section of state leaders—business, law enforcement, veterans, faith, medical and civic leaders—who support commonsense solutions to reduce gun violence. The Coalition is part of a national ...
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