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Tuesday, May 24, marked one year since a teenage killer armed with an AR-15-style rifle murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Just ten days earlier, another teenager armed with an assault-style weapon had killed ten people at a Topps grocery store in Buffalo, New York.
What is the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act?
The two massacres motivated Congress to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most consequential gun safety legislation to become law in decades.
This landmark Act strengthens federal background checks, expands the definition of domestic abusers who are prohibited from possessing firearms, and provides billions of dollars that will help states implement and administer “red flag” laws that enable families members to petition a court to temporarily separate a loved one in crisis from firearms, strengthen schools, and enhance mental health treatment services.
What the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act doesn’t offer?
While far from as expansive as it could or should have been—the bill does little to close the gun show loophole I wrote about earlier this year—the House and Senate did anything to address gun violence after years of inaction was a significant achievement.
Conversely, ironically and in a display of the type of lunacy that goes on largely unnoticed and virtually unreported in the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly, the House Government Oversight Committee was scheduled to vote on HB 51 on the eve of the Uvalde anniversary.
What happened with the bill and Mike Loychik and Jean Schmidt in Ohio?
I’m sure that most of you have never heard of or read about this moronic legislation which, among its many stupid, dangerous, and unconstitutional provisions, would exempt Ohio from most federal gun laws and regulations, so I thought I would perform a public service by shedding a little light on the bill and its two sponsors, Mike Loychik and Jean Schmidt.
Rep. Loychik is famous, or infamous, you decide, for attempting to change the name of Mosquito Lake State Park to Donald J. Trump State Park too, in his words, “honor the commitment and dedication that our 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, bestowed upon the great people of Trumbull County.” Rep. Schmidt garnered worldwide fame and disdain for saying forcing a young girl raped and impregnated by a sexual predator to have her rapist’s baby creates an opportunity for the victim.
Now that you have a little background on the sponsors of HB 51, you won’t be surprised by the ludicrous provisions of this legislative abomination which were enumerated by Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, who joined the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, the Ohio Mayor’s Alliance, the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney’s Association, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, and many, many others in opposing the bill.
Why HB 51 doesn’t work
Let’s start with this: HB 51 states that all federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, rules, and regulations, …that infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Section 4 of Article I, Ohio Constitution are invalid to Ohio, must not be recognized by Ohio, must be rejected explicitly by Ohio, and must not be enforced by Ohio. Those laws and regulations include:
1. Any registration or tracking of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition;
2. Any registration or tracking of the owners of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition:
3. Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, or use or transfer of a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens.
City Attorney Klein noted in his testimony that point number three is a formula for disaster because although federal law prohibits people who have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence charges from possessing a firearm, Ohio law does not, which means that if HB 51 passes, an individual who beat their spouse and was subsequently convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence will be considered a “law-abiding citizen” who would be allowed to carry a firearm in our state. According to Atty. Klein, allowing individuals convicted of a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence to have a concealed weapon results in a 24% increase in the rates of assaults with a firearm.
Just what we need: more gun violence.
I’ve just scratched the surface of all that is wrong with this bill. I hope the groundswell of opposition that surfaced in recent weeks will stop the legislation in its tracks. But if it does show signs of life at any time in the future, I won’t hesitate to sound the alarm.
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