COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Nearly two dozen mayors and police chiefs from all over Ohio came together at the Statehouse presumably to show lawmakers how true bipartisanship works.
They urged lawmakers to set aside political differences and pass what they are calling common-sense gun regulations that are part of Gov. Mike DeWine’s STRONG Ohio proposal.
Many of those initiatives are already underway or have been paid for in the state operating budget, but a major component still needs to be addressed: the extreme protection order, also known as a red flag law.
The coalition of mayors and police chiefs discussed how their political alignment and philosophies did not matter one bit after last month’s mass shooting in Dayton. The deaths of innocent people stripped them of their desire to argue, and they found common ground in attempting to move legislation they all agree will make Ohioans safer. Now, they just need to convince some Ohio lawmakers to do the same.
Trying to help them do that is Republican State Sen. Peggy Lehner, who was contrite.
“I apologize for taking so long to get here,” Lehner said. “I have supported the things that you have been doing for a long time, but I have been way too quiet about it.”
Lehner hasn’t been quiet this week. She took on two of her colleagues in a committee meeting on Tuesday, challenging them as they pushed back against the bipartisan red flag law bill she co-sponsors along with State Sen. Sandra Williams, a Democrat.
For years the Republican-controlled legislature has loosened gun laws here in Ohio, only tightening them in some areas and often after the federal government has done so or appears to be on the path to doing so.
Senate Democrats joined the mayors and police chiefs. Lehner was by herself, but she said she has colleagues who also support reforms.
“They need encouragement,” said Lehner.
Those too ashamed or scared to openly espouse such support could be under the thumb of a situation Lehner is free of now that she is term-limited and unable to run again as a State Senator.
According to Lehner, while campaign money from the NRA may be the reason some lawmakers choose to support their agenda, such reasoning is not widespread.
Instead, she says it’s the NRA’s reach that has lawmakers on a short leash. If the NRA deems a lawmaker unworthy of holding office, they will make sure their members know about it. And because NRA members vigorously exercise their right to vote, that could be enough for a politician to lose their race, according to Lehner. As she put it, nothing speaks louder to politicians than the fact they’re going to win an election.
Lehner believes that in order to get lawmakers to fear the people more than then NRA, it must be made very clear that for every voter who votes for the NRA’s agenda, there’s 10 more who vote against it.
The only civilian on the stage with the coalition today was Whitney Austin, a survivor of the mass shooting that happened in Cincinnati last September in which three people were killed.
Austin was shot 12 times in the arm, right side, and across her chest. None of the bullets hit any major arteries or organs. She has since started an organization called Whitney Strong that seeks to bring gun owners to the table and convince them that now is the time to commit to common-sense changes that will protect people.
Austin’s organization is seeking responsible gun owners to buy in on gun reform proposals like the red flag laws.
“People are really interested right now, and we do not need to allow this momentum to wane. We need to keep the energy up and we need to make a change,” Austin said. “Making incremental progress is better than no progress, so let’s pull everyone together and get to the best solution that we can.”
But there is still fear that despite the show of solidarity and shedding of political party barriers, this will all just fade away because eventually people will move on with their lives and the shooting in Dayton will become less than an afterthought, like the shooting in Cincinnati has for many.
Austin doesn’t have that fear, and neither to the members of the coalition who came to the Statehouse today.
“I think that’s the fear for people that are not victims, and people that are not survivors, but those of us that have had an intimate experience with gun violence, we’re not gonna forget and we are very loud. And the more and more close we get to critical mass the more we will not be able to be ignored. So we will not give up, we just need you all to not give up,” she said.
