Sen. Johnson introduces legislation to fix serious problems in Ohio

Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) has introduced two new pieces of legislation, Senate Bills 278 and 279, that seek to fix serious problems across Ohio.

BFA helped pass preemption protections nearly 20 years ago, mandating that gun laws are dealt with exclusively at the state level. Ohio Revised Code 9.68 outlines the rules clearly: cities and other political subdivisions are forbidden from regulating firearms, their components, ammunition, and knives.

Yet Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and other cities have repeatedly flouted the law with illegal local ordinances. The current law allows for lawsuits against offending cities, but even though they are liable for legal fees, cities feel very little pain when they lose in court, given their deep, taxpayer funded pockets.

SB 278 seeks to add teeth to the law by giving individuals the power to seek punitive damages against cities that pass gun control measures. This would allow a court to punish cities by inflicting financial pain and potentially preventing them from passing gun control laws in the future.

Another problem we've been seeing in recent years is off-duty law enforcement officers prevented from carrying a firearm at musical performances, fairs, and other locations.

This makes no sense, given that on-duty officers cannot be everywhere all the time. Off-duty officers can act as auxiliary safety personnel when going about ordinary activities at no extra cost to taxpayers.

SB 279 would make it illegal for a business, state agency, or political subdivision from preventing an off-duty law enforcement officer from carrying a firearm. This would allow trusted individuals, who are trained and experienced, to be present at more locations and events and potentially stop serious crimes.

Buckeye Firearms Association fully endorses both of these bills and will work to help them move through the Senate and House and arrive on the Governor's desk for his signature.

We thank Sen. Johnson for introducing this legislation and urge the Senate to move these bills as quickly as possible.

For more information on these and other bills in the current session, visit our Legislation page.

Dean Rieck is Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association, a former competitive shooter, NRA Patron Member, former #1 NRA Recruiter, and host of the Keep and Bear Radio podcast.