COLUMBUS, Ohio — New legislation at the Ohio Statehouse aims to curb violent crime by keeping bad guys with guns off the streets. State lawmakers say the measure will not affect people who lawfully own guns, but rather go after those who use them to commit crimes over and over again.
Representatives Bernie Willis (R - Springfield) and Josh Williams (R - Sylvania Twp.) introduced the "Repeat Offenders Act" Tuesday afternoon.
The bill would increase penalties for someone caught a second or third time for having a gun illegally. It would also increase penalties for using a gun in a violent crime, and require mandatory sentences for certain offenses.
The co-sponsors say a small number of people are committing a disproportionate amount of the violent crime.
"These repeat offenders, people who have been told by judges at sentencing, you shall never own a gun or ammunition again in your life unless your rights are restored, some of them get out and within six months they're caught doing another crime," Williams said.
"As a staunch Second Amendment supporter I will continue to fight for Ohioans right to legal gun ownership," Willis said. "Unfortunately, there are a few that don't care about the law and continue to carry out acts of gun violence even when they are not legally allowed to possess such weapons.
Attorney General Dave Yost was at the announcement to throw his support behind the measure.
"This bill is surgically targeted toward not owners but actors that use guns for illegal reasons," Yost said. "This will make our cities safer, it will take the bad guys with guns off the street and not affect the rights of law abiding citizens."
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D - Upper Arlington) said she thinks the legislation covers one piece of a very large problem that will take a multi-faceted approach to solve.
Representative Williams says the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association is against a portion of the law that deals with automatically sealing records of some offenses after a certain amount of time passes.
The sponsors are now waiting for the new bill to be assigned to a House Committee.