PA Bill Number: HB2311
Title: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program.
Description: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program. ...
Last Action: Laid on the table
Last Action Date: Sep 23, 2024
Ohio: Debate revived on state bill to lift campus gun ban :: 12/01/2016
COLUMBUS — Opponents of allowing hidden handguns on college campuses and other locations now deemed off-limits argued Wednesday that the issue is not being pushed by the schools but rather by pro-gun lobbyists in the Statehouse.
The Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee put off a potential vote on House Bill 48, but the bill is still expected to reach Gov. John Kasich’s desk before lawmakers call the two-year session to an end as soon as next week.
The debate comes two days after a student and Somali refugee used a butcher knife to injure 11 people on the campus of the Ohio State University before he was shot and killed by a campus police officer.
“There are some that seem to embrace the faulty assumption that if there is an active shooter, a responsible concealed-carry licensee will shoot them, save the day, and end the situation,” said Steve Mockabee, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati who spoke on behalf of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors.
“However, as we’ve seen with mass-shootings incidents around our country, these are highly chaotic situations,” he said. “What happens when many people are drawing firearms and nobody knows who the aggressor is?”
The House voted 68-29 last year to pass the bill, sponsored by Rep. Ron Maag (R., Lebanon). It would lift the state’s ban on carrying concealed handguns into day-care centers, airport terminals, police stations, and government buildings. Privately owned businesses, including day-care centers, could opt to post themselves as off-limits.
The bill would not lift the ban on carrying into courthouses, shelters, and the Ohio Statehouse.
Drivers with permits could legally carry into K-12 school safety zones but could not carry them into the schools.
It would let boards of trustees of public colleges and universities decide whether to allow concealed-carry. In places where the ban would remain in place, a violation would be reduced to a minor misdemeanor. That would eliminate the threat of jail time if the offender has a legal permit to carry.
“Criminals target victims that are more likely not able to hurt them, the unarmed,” said Tarak Underiner, an Ohio State student and member of the local Students for Concealed Carry. “College campuses and the areas surrounding them present environments rich with potential victims. They’re willing to gamble we’re unarmed, and it pays off.”
Even if House Bill 48 becomes law, he doesn’t believe colleges and universities are likely to opt in.
“With events like those this past Monday, it is vital that we, as students, feel safe on campus,” he said. “I implore you to restore our right to safety and not let the university make life or death decisions on our behalf.”
Roughly 30 witnesses were to testify before the committee, most opposing the bill. Some complained that at times as few as one committee member was present because of scheduling conflicts in the lame-duck rush of bills.
Opponents argued that college campuses, where a large mix of people could include those with mental illness and substance abuse problems, and which typically have potentially chaotic child day-care centers, are impractical for guns.
Amy Thompson, co-director of the University of Toledo’s Center for Health and Successful Living, said the universities are not seeking the change.
“It’s usually by [National Rifle Association] lobbyists or other pro-gun groups that are pushing this legislation rather than the students, faculty, and staff,” she said.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
