Proposed Ohio ballot issue requiring background checks for most gun sales shoots ahead

[brooklynite]

Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Backers of a proposed citizen-initiated law to require background checks for most gun sales in Ohio have gotten the green light to start collecting petition signatures to, ultimately, place the measure on the statewide ballot.

The bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board unanimously voted Monday that the proposal, titled “An Act to Close Loopholes in Background Checks on Gun Sales,” doesn’t contain more than a single subject. That certification means that Ohioans For Gun Safety, the group behind the proposal, can now start to gather the required 132,887 signatures from registered voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

If they do, state lawmakers would have four months to act on the proposed law, which would make Ohio the 12th state (as well as the District of Columbia) to require universal background checks for firearms sales. Federal law already requires licensed dealers to conduct background checks before selling firearms.

The proposal, however, would allow a number of exemptions, such as gifts of firearms between family members, sales of antique guns, and temporarily giving someone a gun to use for hunting or at a shooting range.

[marble falls]

1. A good bare minimum start. How about disarming anyone under investigation or found guilty ...

of domestic violence oe has a peace warrant out against them or has been guilty of assault with a weapon?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. How about NO exemptions?

Would that really be such an inconvenience?