BUCYRUS—Ohio Senate Bill 221, also known as the “Strong Ohio” bill, and the “Ohio Stands United” opposition resolution proved to be hot topics for debate at the council meeting.
Melissa Ackison, who is running for District 26 which is a seven-county race (Crawford, Marion, Morrow, Sandusky, Seneca, Union and Wyandot Counties) addressed council in support of the opposition resolution to “Strong Ohio.”
“I am a Christian, a Constitutional, conservative Republican, I am a mother of 4 sons, an activist, and business owner. I am heavily involved with how the initiatives right relates to combating Mike DeWine’s newest bill, which is called “Ohio Strong” or Senate bill 221, and I’ll tell you right now, there is nothing strong about “Ohio Strong,” especially if you have an interest to protect your Constitutional 2nd amendment rights.”
“The first thing I want to tell you about Senate Bill 221 is that it is a direct infringement on the 2nd amendment. So, if you are someone who appreciates due process or appreciates a process where someone is innocent before proven guilty, this is not a bill that you’re going to support. Essentially this bill was drafted by the governor in response to the shooting in Dayton. What the politicians have done in Ohio’s general assembly is said, ‘I’ll tell you what, we have a problem with gun violence, and this is what we are going to do to resolve those issues.’ Right now with the way that things would be with this bill, is that if I were to leave here tonight, and I want to make the decision that one of you is a threat or you may have some kind of a mental instability that I’m sensing or if I feel uncomfortable with you, there will now be specific judges set up that normally handle administrative issues to look at each case and determine if you are a threat and if your guns can be seized. You are truly guilty before proven innocent with this bill, and your guns can absolutely be taken from you,” she continued.
Part of Ackison’s issues with the bill deals with due process, “What happens if it’s someone that I am targeting politically? What if it is an ex-spouse? What if it’s somebody that I dislike that I want to have their guns taken from them? You will then be responsible for defending yourself in a court of law to get your guns back—that’s not the way that any of this should be working.”
The other part of the bill will work as a permission slip of sorts, allowing you to own and sell guns. However, if you want to do a private gun sale and the other person who is buying the sale doesn’t have the slip, you as the seller will be held accountable down the road should any crimes be committed with that gun, even though it is no longer your property. Ackison pointed out that there are already checks and balances in place to take care of private gun sales.
She presented a resolution already being used in Clermont County, as something for individuals to take to their county commissioners or mayor to try and begin the stages to get it passed.
“‘Ohio Stands United’ is over 60,000 strong and we have only been going on for about a month, so that lets you know that the leverage that we have, the media presence that we have, my social media presence, I have very strong access to get on local news whenever I need to, I can get to the local papers whenever I need to—people are watching this play out. So, what we will do if your commissioners decide to push back too hard, or you have a mayor who decides to veto this and ignore the voices of the people, we can pressure them publicly to let everyone know that they do not deserve your vote next time around. They are not king makers, they are not the kings of Bucyrus or Crawford County, they have to listen to what the people want from them,” she said.
“In addition to this, I want you all to get involved with Ohio Gun Owner’s Association. They are the strongest, uncompromising lobbying firm in downtown Columbus that will not endorse candidates and they won’t get behind people—they will truly just fight to make sure that the 2nd amendment is not compromised as a result of politicians bowing down to pressures from the liberal media and from others who believe it’s the 2nd amendment, when we all know it’s because we have a Godless issue in this country, we have a parental issue in this country, and we have a non-accountability issue in this country,” Ackison said.
She went on to give the facts that more people are killed in this country by “hands, feet, and fists” than they are by firearms. She proposed the question that if someone thinks you have a mental disturbance, are they going to tie up your hands and feet so that you can’t hurt anyone?
The first citizen to respond to the matter was Lisa Miller. Miller stated that she thinks the U.S. Constitution and its amendments are just fine and Bucyrus doesn’t need to augment or supplement this ‘sanctuary city’ proposal.
“Being the ‘liberal snowflake’ that I am, I feared I was missing something from the video that Mr. Fankhauser posted about the proposal. So, I asked a person who is a registered Republican and who has numerous guns, and she found it ludicrous. My husband and I have looked to see what Ohio counties have designated themselves as 2nd amendment sanctuary counties. While we were doing that, we saw that the executive directors of both the Ohio Gun Owners and the Buckeye Firearms Association are not on board with this, and I would like to know how Sheriff Kent and Chief Koepke feel about the proposal. I don’t think that Bucyrus or Crawford County should rush into this. If this resolution comes to the council floor, I ask that you reject it,” Miller said as she addressed the council members.
Next was Jenny Vermillion, “I would merely like to take this time to remind council that they are elected in a form of government that was established for the first time in history in 1776. You are a representative form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We all know that at the federal level this type of representation is questionable due to special interest lobbyists who seek preferential treatment and consideration beyond the will of the people. I simply ask that each of you consider your elected position, the people you represent, and cast your votes according to the will of the people, not the will of an individual, yourself, or a lobbyist,” she said in her statement to the council.
For Deb Pinion, the handgun issue hits closer to home, “As far as other weapons, handguns, I can tell you that we’ve lost 4 family members to handguns, so I’m pretty passionate about that.” Pinion showed up to the meeting in a Stoneman Douglas sweatshirt that she received when she made a donation to their students after the shooting there. She also stated that she’s a member of The Sandy Hook Promise.
“I can’t believe that after he killed all of those little children, we did absolutely nothing except gave our thoughts and prayers. So, I ask you tonight for thoughts and prayers for a wise decision on your part. I don’t want to take your guns, I don’t believe you need automatic weapons unless you join one of the armed forces. But I respectfully ask that you table this matter and give it much consideration,” she said in her closing statement.
Next up to the mic was former council member Dan Wirebaugh. “A recent Facebook post has declared that a resolution will be introduced tonight to protect our second amendment rights, and I would just like to address that. First, I am a little concerned that at the new city council’s first full meeting, that something like this would be presented. Many of you campaigned on high utility rates, derelict buildings, and the lack of good paying jobs. You have a multi-million dollar sewer separation project going on, a swimming pool that has been out of service for nearly 2 years, ODNR and the state attorney general on your back about the reservoir, and in a year, the city will need to decide if we are going to continue with the Central Joint Ambulance Service or create something new. Has anyone got input from the schools? Law enforcement? Health department? Mental health agencies? The voters who put you in those chairs? Do you have any statistics that proves that this would make anyone safer? How will it affect sporting events, music programs, pancake breakfasts? Some of you may not realize that the reason city council now has a police officer and a metal detector at the meetings precipitated from a credible threat a couple years ago. Will this resolution allow guns at city hall and the county courthouse? There are no statistics that firearms make us safer.”
Robert Taylor was the next up to address his opinion on the matter. “At seventeen years old I took an oath to uphold the federal Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. How many of you folks swore an oath to the Constitution? You are expected to uphold the Constitution. I have a 4-foot-9, 120 pound daughter and she’s 18 years old and because of restrictions and because we’re scared of guns, she can’t even defend herself. Cops can’t be where she’s at all the time. God forbid anything ever happened to her because then it falls on me as her dad to protect her. When she turns 21, she’ll follow the law and get her concealed carry permit because I know that that’s the safest thing for her. I don’t understand why anyone who took an oath to the Constitution, would not uphold that oath, regardless of what the Federal Government or state government is saying. We can talk about the Federal Government getting involved with things and messing them up all the time—the gas can, Iraq—Federal Government isn’t the answer. People have the right to defend themselves not through government, but through God. That’s given to us, the Constitution just spells it out so that the government can’t infringe on it.”
The last to address council on the matter was Bill Stuckert, “Violence does not occur because of the accessibility of firearms, but rather it occurs because of the mental state of a person. If firearms are not accessible to a person who intends to do violence, they will use any other means that they have—a knife, a ball bat, a piece of pipe, a rock—how are you possibly going to keep somebody of that nature from picking up a rock out of your yard and using it on somebody else? I strongly recommend this resolution for the 2nd amendment sanctuary county and city.”
When “Strong Ohio” and “Ohio Stands United” were on the floor to be moved to a committee, there was no motion made so the bills died on the floor. These issues can still be addressed with council.
One of the last things at the meeting was that Ordinance No. 61-2019 was passed on a 4-3 vote, and states that the Safety-Service Director must live within 5 miles of the city limits within 6 months after his or her appointment.
There will be a joint committees meeting on Thursday evening at 6:00pm.
More information about Ohio Senate Bill 221 can be found here.