Tuesday, March 22, 2016
COLUMBUS — Individuals convicted of domestic violence or with civil-protection orders would be barred from having firearms, under legislation being offered by Democrats in the Ohio House.
State Reps. Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Janine Boyd, D-Cleveland Heights, said the legislation would codify in Ohio similar prohibitions in place in federal law.
Without a state law, they said, Ohio is not positioned to enforce the gun ban for domestic-violence perpetrators.
“Dangerous gaps in Ohio law make it easy for domestic-violence abusers to access guns even though they’re legally prohibited from doing so,” Antonio said during a news conference today at the Statehouse. “For instance, Ohio does not prohibit convicted domestic-violence abusers or people subject to a domestic-violence protection order from purchasing or possessing guns. And it doesn’t require abusers who become prohibited by federal law to turn their guns in.”
Antonio and Boyd said federal law already prohibits gun possession for offenders convicted of misdemeanor domestic-violence charges and others who are subject to permanent protection orders.
For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com