Sittenfeld fires away at Strickland and Portman gun votes

COLUMBUS — Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, a U.S. Senate candidate, fired away today at ex-Gov. Ted Strickland, his Democratic Party primary opponent, and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, the Republican incumbent, about their gun votes.

In a speech in Columbus, Sittenfeld said he supports the Second Amendment, but gun violence is out of control.

“The only reason we don’t have [universal background checks with no gun show or other loopholes] is because Congress continues to cower before the extremists who have taken control of the NRA,” the National Rifle Association, Sittenfeld said.

“No matter how unreasonable the NRA becomes, it has always been able to count on the unwavering loyalty and knee-jerk support of my two Senate opponents in this race, Ted Strickland and Rob Portman,” Sittenfeld said. “When it comes to guns, Sen. Portman and Gov. Strickland are just different sides of the same coin.”

Portman has an A rating from the NRA and when he was in the U.S. House and as governor, Strickland had an A+ rating.

"Of course Ted supports commonsense background checks," said Jennifer Donohue, an Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman speaking on behalf of the Strickland campaign. "It's Sen. Portman who refuses to support commonsense ideas that keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill."

Sittenfeld, who is trailing in the polls, said if elected he would push for universal background checks “that aren’t watered down” with “loopholes,” revoke the licenses of gun dealers who sell to gang members and traffickers, reinstate the ban on assault rifles, and push to stop the sale of firearms to those with severe mental illness.

“Tackling this issue head-on is sure to make me public enemy No. 1 with the gun lobby,” he said.