Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is calling for stronger gun laws.
He opened Tuesday's coronavirus press conference with a review of some headlines from around the state:
“Over the past two weeks we found reports in the news media of at least 88 people shot in Ohio. Of those, at least 34 were killed, including a young boy named King Pleasant. King was just six-years old, had a future with infinite possibilities. Until he was shot to death last week.”
DeWine wants lawmakers to pass a bill toughening penalties for possessing firearms illegally, especially if the person was convicted of a violent crime:
Our bill that I’m asking the General Assembly to pass, will toughen penalties for people who are breaking the law by having a weapon. The people who are most likely to use a gun to kill.
Our bill provides added penalties for these individuals - they’re not allowed to have a gun because they’ve committed a felony – and we would enhance the penalty, give judges more discretion, when their previous crime was a crime of violence.
This is an easy one. This is not hard. We need to get it done.”
The " STRONG Ohio" bill was introduced last October.
