Ohio Democrats push for bump stock ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Two new bills aim to ban bump stocks in Ohio after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling put the decision back in the hands of the states.

“We're going to try to ban this in Ohio,” State Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) said. “This is a worthwhile fight. I would love to engage in a clear, open-minded debate on this topic.”

Senate Bill 307, sponsored by Sens. Kent and Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), and House Bill 644, sponsored by Reps. Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati) and Michele Grim (D- Toledo), are companion bills.

Bump stocks allow semi-automatic firearms to fire faster, closer to the rate of machine guns, which are illegal to own in the United States. A bump stock was used in the country’s deadliest mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017; it allowed the shooter to fire 90 bullets in ten seconds.

After the shooting, under the Trump administration, bump stocks became illegal in 2018, but back in June, the Supreme Court sent the decision back to the states, making the device legal in most places, including Ohio.

“This is essentially a piece of firearm mechanics that makes a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun,” Smith said. “And so, if machine guns are illegal and something that turns something into a machine gun should also be illegal. This is commonsense public safety legislation.”

“Calling plays from the same old campaign year playbook, Democrats continue to target law-abiding Ohioans rather than simply enforcing existing laws,” spokesperson for Ohio Senate Republicans John Fortney said in a statement. “Ohioans understand that violent criminals don’t consult the Ohio Revised Code before committing a carjacking or a hold-up. People see these crimes every night on the news, and they have a Constitutional right to protect themselves that shall not be infringed.”

If passed and signed into law, bump stock owners would have 180 days to get rid of them. Smith said that is to ensure that Ohioans have time to become compliant with the law.

If Ohio does ban bump stocks, the state would join 16 others and Washington D.C. in doing so. Some of those states include Florida, Virginia, California, and Illinois.

“I don’t know why anyone would need this or want this, but if you purchase this in good faith and someone then with sketchy motives gets a hold of it, that's where devastating carnage can result,” Smith said. “And it's just, it's not in the public interest to have this type of firearm accessory in the seventh most populated state in the country.”

These bills are the latest in the Democrats’ efforts to tighten gun laws in the state, with most of them being met with immediate pushback from Republican leaders and members at the Ohio Statehouse.

"The House Republican Caucus will continue to protect Ohio gun owners from government overreach at any level,” a spokesperson for the Ohio House Republicans said.

“If machine guns are banned, bump stocks should be, too,” Smith said. “We don't have grenade launchers. We don't have cannons. I mean, there seems to be some sort of line where this particular weapon should not be in the hands of the common citizenry.”

Aside from Democrat-led efforts to tighten gun laws, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has called on the legislature to increase penalties for repeat violent offenders who use a gun, and a bill has been introduced to do that.

“Gov. DeWine has said some of the right things on these topics, but he hasn't used the political power that he has as the governor and the leader of the party to bring any of these over the finish line,” Smith said.

Despite calls to action and five years since the mass shooting in Dayton, no law has been enacted to tighten laws, only loosen them, like allowing permit-less concealed carry.