Take Action for Human Rights

OHIO RESIDENTS: PROTECT OHIOANS FROM GUN VIOLENCE

© A memorial displays crosses bearing the names of people killed by a mass shooter in Dayton on August 4th, 2019. Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images.

Someone is killed with a gun in Ohio every six hours. We refuse to wait any longer for our state to pass laws protecting us from this epidemic.

There are bills sitting in the Ohio state legislature that would reduce gun violence in our communities: from helping to prevent deadly massacres like the August 4th shooting in Dayton, to reducing tragic everyday gun violence including suicides and the deaths of children.

Passing these bills would mean requiring background checks for the sale of all guns, creating measures to temporarily remove firearms from people who are at a heightened risk of harming themselves or others, and even banning accessories that make it possible for shooters to kill the most people in the shortest amount of time.

But instead of saving lives across the state, these bills might not even receive a vote. Sign your name to demand that our lawmakers #DoSomething now!

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

Senator

Larry

Obhof

Ohio State Senate

Dear Senate President Larry Obhof,

As a resident of Ohio, I urge you to ensure that critical gun violence prevention bills S.B. 62, 65, 182, 183 and 184 are brought to a vote on the Senate floor.

Someone is killed with a gun every six hours in our state. In the wake of the August 4th massacre in Dayton, it is even more clear: you have an opportunity to save Ohioans’ lives by ensuring that these bills are brought to the floor.

1. S.B. 62 would ban accessories designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi automatic firearm. Shooters with semi automatic weapons can kill many people in a matter of seconds, as we saw in Dayton, and accessories that increase firing speed exponentially increase their lethality.

2. S.B. 183 would require background checks for the sale of every firearm: a policy that an overwhelming percentage of Ohio voters support. According to a July 2019 Quinnipiac poll, 90% of Ohio voters--including 87% of gun owners--support requiring background checks for the purchase of every gun.

In states that require background checks for every gun sale, 47% fewer women are killed by a domestic abuser using firearms and 53% fewer police officers are killed on duty. A 2019 analysis found that states requiring universal background checks are associated with 10% lower homicide rates.

3. S.B. 184 would create a mechanism for the temporary transfer of firearms from an individual who may present a risk to themselves or others. This is important because in many instances of gun violence, family members or friends are the first to notice warning signs.

This is especially significant for Ohio, because nearly 61% of gun deaths in our state are suicides. From 2013 to 2017, 4,249 people in Ohio died from gun-related suicide--nearly one every ten hours. Analysis of Connecticut and Indiana’s extreme risk laws show that for every 10 to 20 firearm removals using this mechanism, approximately one life was saved through an averted suicide.

States are also using extreme risk laws to help prevent mass shootings by temporarily disarming individuals who have made significant and credible threats of violence. This could also be relevant for Ohio, as the Dayton shooter allegedly kept a “hit list” of classmates which was reported to the police, among other troubling behaviors.

The impact of gun violence in Ohio extends even beyond the more than 1,400 lives lost every year. According to research from Everytown for Gun Safety, the annual cost of gun violence in the state of Ohio is $7.3 billion, or $628 per resident. Expenses incurred include healthcare costs, law enforcement and criminal justice expenses, employer costs and lost income. Even this staggering number is an understatement, as it does not take into account difficult-to-measure costs such as lost business opportunities, lowered property values and reductions in the tax base. Addressing gun violence through common-sense legislation is in the best interest of our economy in addition to our ability to stay alive.

Failure to enact strong gun violence prevention laws such as S.B. 62, 65, 182, 183 and 184 would mean the continued endangerment of Ohio state lawmakers’ constituents.

Every day that we fail to act, we risk losing more lives to gun violence. People’s lives are at stake. Please ensure that these critical bills are brought to the floor.
 
Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

CC:
Senator Coley
Senator Huffman