COLUMBUS, Ohio — City leaders gathered at the Ohio Statehouse on Thursday to call on legislators to pass common-sense gun laws.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said the violence must end and lawmakers must take action.
“No shooting, no death is just a number. Each represent a father, mother, brother, friend, neighbor. Each one causes ever-widening ripples of unspeakable grief,” Ginther said.
State Representative Allison Russo said Ohio has some of the worst gun laws. She wants to be a part of the change.
“More than 1,700 die by guns in Ohio each year. We have the 24th highest gun deaths in the country and we have the 18th highest rate of unintentional gun deaths,” Russo said.
But what does that change look like? For City Attorney Zach Klein, it’s about politicians having political will, but it goes beyond that.
“We have to continue investing in police to get dangerous people off of the streets, guns off the streets. We have to invest in prosecutors,” Klein said.
Instead of putting more gun laws in place, Ginther argues things like Senate Bill 215, which eliminated the conceal-carry permit, has people more people in danger.
“This drastic change put the burden on police to determine whether an individual is armed which escalates danger and uncertainty that law enforcement faces each and every day,” Ginther said.
10TV reached out to the Ohio Senate majority leader Matt Huffman for an interview, but he has not returned our call.
John Fortney with the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus sent 10TV a statement saying, "Violent felons don’t consult the Ohio Revised Code before carjacking innocent people at gunpoint. Failed liberal mayors like Ginther, Bibb and Lightfoot in Chicago are solely responsible for embracing the immediate release of violent felons, undermining their police force and would rather punish law abiding citizens who simply want to protect themselves and their families under the 2nd amendment."