Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich announced a series of proposals to reduce gun violence in Ohio on Thursday, including enhanced background checks and rules for law enforcement to take guns away from those posing a risk for gun violence.
“We want to make sure that we can bring greater safety to the state, but at the same time not frightening people who believe very strongly in their ability to practice the Second Amendment,” Kasich said in a news conference.
Kasich proposed six reforms following the advice of a group of advisers on gun violence put together in November, asking state lawmakers to:
- Create a gun-violence protection order allowing families and law enforcement to request from a judge to take away guns temporarily from those proven to be a risk for gun violence.
- Update current state law to automatically prohibit those convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun.
- Implement a ban on “bump stocks.”
- Strengthen state law to prohibit gun transactions where one person buys a gun for a felon or someone else who is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.
- Prohibit sale of armor-piercing ammunition
- Close gaps in background check system to ensure faster delivery of court records to prohibit felons among others prohibited from possessing firearms from buying guns or receiving a concealed-carry permit.
Kasich’s “sensible, consensus approach to protecting Ohioans from gun violence,” did not include a ban on assault-style weapons, limits on gun magazine capacities, or increasing the minimum age to purchase a firearm.
The proposals come about two weeks after the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed, plunging the nation into another discussion on gun control.
Kasich, the 2014 NRA-endorsed governor is rumored to be preparing for another potential presidential bid in 2020.