“We have great leadership in our cities, but the state is actively undermining them.”

Tuesday, May 30, 2023 CONTACT: Cameron Keir | [email protected] | 614-359-5346

Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, Governor Mike DeWine directly challenged Mayor Andrew Ginther’s leadership of Columbus late last week, declaring guns are not a public health crisis. The Ohio Capital Journal/WEWS-TV’s Morgan Trau first reported the radical statements Friday morning, after a tragic shooting in Cleveland last week.

DeWine first blatantly ignored questions from Trau asking if he would veto new legislation that could change how police enforce gun laws based on safety, as DeWine had with legislation on tobacco. Then in a follow-up to Trau, DeWine’s office directly attacked efforts Mayor Ginther implemented to keep Columbus neighbors safe saying: “[T]obacco is a public health concern, while gun violence is not. Gun violence could fall into a public safety concern, not health.”

Mayor Ginther issued the following response to Governor Mike DeWine’s dangerous rhetoric attacking Columbus laws: 

“Ohio’s dangerous legislative games with guns have gone on long enough. It’s time for real, meaningful action to protect Ohioans once and for all. If Governor DeWine and the rest of the radical lawmakers are too scared to stand up to the gun lobby for common sense, legislation that’s backed by police, I say get out of our way and let us do what’s best for Columbus,” said Mayor Ginther.  

Read more from the Ohio Capital Journal HERE and below: 

• During a news conference Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine repeatedly ignored questions about gun safety, which came on a day a 7-year-old was shot in the head in Cleveland, and as the state is suing Columbus over a safe gun storage law.
• “It’s an incredibly shocking and sad story, but unfortunately not a surprising one,” state Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) said.
• The Northeast Ohio representative said common sense gun safety laws would have prevented this from happening — something Columbus has recently implemented.
• In January, a small child survived after discharging a gun inside his home in Columbus. He found the gun between two cushions. The City of Columbus charged the father under the new safe storage law.
• “Cities are trying to do something,” Weinstein added. “We have great leadership in our cities, but the state is actively undermining them.”
• The city requires gun owners to lock up their guns around children when they aren’t using them, and banned magazines that can hold 30 or more rounds of ammunition.
• Weinstein warned that police can’t handle gun violence on their own, especially not with another bill that is meant to loosen gun laws. House Bill 51 would penalize law enforcement for following federal gun laws.
• The way the bill is written, the legislation has a seemingly unintended consequence of forcing police to stop enforcing gun laws.
• For context, back in January, DeWine vetoed a bill that banned municipalities from regulating flavored tobacco.
• “Candidly, though, we’re dealing now with young people’s lives,” DeWine said at the press conference. “When a local community wants to make the decision to ban these flavors to protect their children, we should applaud those decisions.”
• WEWS/OCJ Statehouse reporter Morgan Trau asked Gov. Mike DeWine about the lawsuit and the new bill during a press conference Wednesday. She referenced the fact that the governor vetoed the tobacco legislation while citing safety and asked if he would also be vetoing H.B. 51 for the same reason.
• “I’m not going to get into the litigation that is going on,” DeWine said, then spoke for a minute about tobacco.
• Trau tried re-asking her question, “What about the gun bills?” She was ignored.
• When following up with the governor’s team, spokesperson Dan Tierney said that tobacco is a public health concern, while gun violence is not.
• Gun violence could fall into a public safety concern, not health, he added.

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