COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said Friday that locals know best when it comes to implementing health and safety measures to protect the people of Columbus.
"The state legislature really needs to respect the constitutional rights of Ohioans and let local leaders who have been elected directly by the residents of their communities take on some of the big challenges of the day. This a very diverse state of 11 and a half million people, a very diverse state. And so, different communities need different solutions, and the people that are closest to the residents of Ohio are our local elected officials," Mayor Ginther said.
This comes as Columbus' "common sense" gun measure and flavored tobacco ban are being challenged by state lawmakers.
The mayor said the use of flavored tobacco among youth in the city is a crisis that is in desperate need of action.
"We know that tobacco companies and others have really targeted children, particularly African American children, flavored tobacco and other kinds of vaping products. And we heard from our schools as well, I mean, most of the public schools here have weighed in clubs and schools passing a resolution in support of banning the sale of flavored tobacco in the city," he said.
The Ohio House and Senate passed House Bill 513 that includes a measure preventing cities like Columbus from prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, such as menthol cigarettes and e-cigarettes. It heads to Governor DeWine's desk to be signed.
"We're encouraging the governor to veto this legislation. He's got a very strong track record of, you know, standing up for children and families. And he's been willing to stand up to big tobacco in the past, and really encouraging him. There are lots of folks we have a very diverse coalition, that support taking on this epidemic. And we're asking for his help and leadership," Mayor Ginther said.
The mayor is also calling for bipartisan support for the city's recent gun measures. It prohibits:
- ordinary people from owning large capacity magazines with 30 or more rounds of ammunition.
- recklessly selling, lending, or giving a firearm to anyone prohibited from possessing one.
- carelessly storing a firearm in a place that may be accessible to minors.
But the law will need to survive legal challenges to remain valid. Local leaders say the measure is necessary to bring down crime, but gun rights advocates like Attorney General Dave Yost say it violates the right to bear arms.
"You know, the fact that assault weapons and weapons of war are so easily accessible in our streets, the proliferation of guns in American cities across the country is fueling part of the violence that we've seen. And so access to those guns is something we need to act upon," Mayor Ginther said.