Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Gov. Taft battling NRA on gun bill
'Safe storage' measure at risk
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Gov. Bob Taft is fighting to salvage his campaign promise to punish adults who fail to keep guns out of the hands of children.
As President Clinton engaged in a heated war of words this week with the National Rifle Association (NRA) over federal gun control measures, the NRA and other gun groups redoubled efforts to kill the Ohio version of so-called “safe storage” legislation.
Visitors to the NRA's Web site, for instance, are urged to call their lawmakers and demand they oppose the Ohio measure, which the group has dubbed the “Taft Burglar Protection Bill.”
Republican legislative leaders have had a relatively easy time shepherding Mr. Taft's agenda through the GOP-controlled General Assembly during the past year. But faced with a blitz of telephone calls and faxes orchestrated by the NRA, they're finding it difficult, if not impossible, to secure passage of the gun storage bill.
“There is a great deal of support for this among the general public,” House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson, R-Reynoldsburg, said Tuesday. “But I don't know if we will have enough votes to move it.”
If the bill doesn't pass this year, the idea likely is dead. Conservatives who won GOP legislative primaries last week have vowed to join others already blocking Mr. Taft's proposal.
Under the measure, failure to safely store a loaded firearm could lead to a 60-day jail sentence and $500 fine if an unsupervised minor obtained the weapon. If anyone was seriously harmed or killed, the gun owner could face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Gun dealers also would be required to offer trigger locks or similar devices to anyone buying a firearm.
Emotional stories about gun tragedies, such as the 6-year-old Michigan girl killed last month by a classmate, have not swayed reluctant lawmakers. Nor has the NRA's fight with Mr. Clinton, whom Wayne LaPierre, the group's executive vice president, accused this week of needing “a certain level of violence in this country” to serve his political ends.
As the battle continues behind the scenes, the NRA and its allies in the General Assembly contend that prosecutors already can hold adults accountable if they fail to safely secure their weapons.
“We have laws on the books to deal with child endangerment and child neglect,” said Rep. Ron Hood, R-Canfield. “This bill is nothing more than a publicity stunt.”
The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Aurora, is trying to draft a compromise that would create a pilot gun safety program in public schools. It may be offered to the House Criminal Justice Committee within the next two weeks, she said.
But lawmakers opposed to the measure are playing a game of political chicken with Mr. Taft and GOP legislative leaders, vowing to add an amendment to the safe storage bill that would allow most Ohioans to carry concealed weapons.
That would effectively kill the bill. Ms. Davidson has kept a separate conceal-and-carry measure in committee. Even if it gets out, Mr. Taft has vowed to veto the proposal as long as it is opposed by major police groups.
“I've never seen something with this much support have so much trouble getting through the legislature,” Mary Anne Sharkey, Mr. Taft's spokeswoman, said of the safe storage bill. “But we are not going to cut a deal.”
The NRA says the organization encourages gun owners to safely store their guns. During an appearance last Sunday on the ABC-TV talk show This Week, Mr. LaPierre went a step further and said the group also supports safe storage legislation.
“If you have young children in the house, you leave a loaded gun on a bed, you're grossly negligent and you ought to be prosecuted,” Mr. LaPierre said, according to a transcript of the broadcast.
However, the group's Web site includes an essay that argues there is a “hidden agenda” behind gun storage laws. “These laws are all part of the gun grabbers' wholesale attack on private gun ownership,” the essay declares.
Asked to clarify Mr. LaPierre's remarks, Jim Manown, an NRA spokesman, said states with negligence laws don't need specific gun storage laws. He also said the Ohio bill “couldn't be enforced.”
“They can't have it both ways,” said Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati. “We're required by law to store gasoline in certain containers. When are we going to accept responsibility to safely store firearms?”
Police shot 26 times
Investigations launched in police shooting
Norwood police shooting described
Officer injured in skywalk attack
How to dodge I-75 construction backups
Barrels back in familiar locations
Kenwood Rd. work irks businesses
Multistate lotto link possible for Ohio
Gov. Taft battling NRA on gun bill
Public should have say on our stadium
Advisory group sought for Reds ballpark
Lebanon asks state to return buyout money
Manager suggested for future festivals
Meeting bars shelter supporters
Senate to vote today on hotel tax
Vigil held near site of Avondale shooting
Antioch students slain in Costa Rica
Classic R&B on tap for Coors Light Fest
GET TO IT
Playhouse announces ambitious new season
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Budget time lot like game show
Board approves plan for school
Butler plan calls for unity in youth-crime prevention
Cheerleaders go national
Church awaits decision on home
Commissioner backs light rail
Florence signs off on Boone master plan
Hamilton again tries new charter
Judge raises bail in Internet prostitution case
Kenton to appeal decision on meetings
Late-term abortion procedure targeted
Lincoln Heights could land Fergus
Megamall forum runs one way
'Pet resort' plans creature comforts
Sex-bias claim to go forward
TRISTATE DIGEST
Woman finds racist fliers on her door
