Thursday, April 06, 2000
Taft imposes safe-gun policy
Locks a must for employees
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — Opposition from the National Rifle Association is keeping Gov. Bob Taft's safe-gun storage bill bottled up in a legislative committee.
But the lack of action on one of Mr. Taft's campaign promises isn't stopping his ad ministration from requiring the same standards for state employees who carry guns.
Under policies quietly adopted within the last two months by the state Department of Public Safety and the Department of Natural Resources, any employee carrying a state-issued firearm must secure it with a trigger lock or other device when at home.
New weapons purchased by the state also will come with trigger locks or lock boxes, a requirement Cincinnati and other cities are seeking in lawsuits filed against the gun industry.
“We promote the use of weapons by hunters, but this policy is the smart thing to do,” Doug Natoce, law-enforcement administrator for the Natural Resources Department, said Wednesday. “We want to lead by example.”
The policy applies to about 2,000 Highway Patrol troopers, state liquor agents, park rangers and wildlife officers. Agents at the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, an arm of the Attorney General's office, also are required to use trigger locks when at home.
Responding to emotional stories about gun tragedies across the nation, Mr. Taft wants to extend the same storage requirements to any Ohioan who owns a handgun. Adults who fail to keep weapons out of the hands of children would face up to 12 months in prison if someone is subsequently injured or killed.
Gun enthusiasts, though, contend the governor's legislation would prevent people from defending themselves.
Responding to the NRA's aggressive lobbying against the bill, which the group has dubbed the “Taft Burglar Protection Plan”, sponsoring Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin, R-Au rora, this week removed a requirement that all licensed gun dealers offer trigger locks with each purchase.
While some gun companies already offer trigger locks voluntarily with their firearms, Smith & Wesson, the nation's oldest and largest manufacturer of handguns, broke ranks last month and agreed to accept restrictions on the way it makes, sells and distributes its products.
In return, the federal government and cities including St. Louis, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Detroit have agreed to end lawsuits that had threatened to bankrupt the company.
Cincinnati, which decided Wednesday not to join the settlement, is appealing an October decision by Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman that threw out the city's lawsuit against the gun industry.
But while the lawsuit claimed that manufacturers were negligent because they failed to include adequate safety devices, Cincinnati Police are not required to use trigger locks when at home.
“Our officers are required to keep their weapon under their control,” said Sgt. Jeff Butler of the department's planning section. “Officers are encouraged to use gun locks, but there isn't anything in writing yet.”
Sgt. Butler said he keeps all but one of his weapons locked away when at home. “If I had a child in the house, that would be another story,” he said.
Stanley Chesley, the attorney rep resenting the city in its gun lawsuit, dismissed a question about whether the lawsuit and city policy are at odds. “This is about more than trigger locks,” he said.
Mr. Chesley and others think the Smith & Wesson deal will increase pressure on other gun makers, just as a decision by the Liggett Group tobacco company to settle a 1996 law suit led to a national settlement with the tobacco industry.
Among other things, Smith & Wesson agreed to sell a trigger lock with each new gun it sells and develop “smart-gun technology” that allows a firearm to be fired only by authorized users.
But unlike the tobacco deal, Smith & Wesson did not agree to release internal documents that could shed light on the company's marketing strategies.
Sen. Eric Fingerhut, D-Cleveland, responded to the agreement this week with legislation that would require the state to purchase firearms from Smith & Wesson or other companies that adopt the same restrictions.
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