Legislation loosening gun regulations on suppressors, sawed off shotguns and short-barreled rifles in Ohio is getting pushback from Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey.
Senate Bill 214 is on its way to Gov. Mike DeWine's desk. It would take those items off the state's dangerous ordinances list, making them easier to own and carry legally. McGuffey says that's a dangerous move.
"I'm absolutely opposed to this legislation," she said during a Nov. 13 news conference. "It makes it easier for dangerous weapons to enter the hands of the wrong people."
McGuffey said taking the weapons off the dangerous ordinance list would allow them to be sold at private gun shows, making it more likely straw buyers would purchase them and funnel them into the hands of criminals.
The legislation started as a way to align Ohio with federal changes deregulating suppressors. Supporters of that move say the noise dampening devices help protect the hearing of frequent hunters and target shooters. A group of Republican state lawmakers added the provision deregulating shotguns and rifles, something they say is in line with the Second Amendment's protection of gun rights.
McGuffey said both parts of the bill present big problems. She pointed out sawed off shotguns are easier to conceal and disperse shot in a wider, more chaotic pattern, making them much more dangerous.
"You fire that in a group of people ... it's incredibly dangerous to have anyone who is the wrong person carry that weapon, be able to conceal it or use it in any way," she said.
McGuffey says the making suppressors easier to obtain and use would likely allow shooters to evade Shot Spotter technology, which detects gunfire in cities like Cincinnati.
"It's incredibly helpful for law enforcement to know when someone is firing a gun in an urban area, in a neighborhood, on a street," she said.
Ohio State Rep. Karen Brownlee and Cincinnati City Council member Anna Albi, both Democrats, joined McGuffey at the news conference. Albi said the deregulation of the weapons is incredibly frustrating in a city struggling with gun crime. Brownlee said once passed, the law would be hard to undo in a general assembly still dominated by the Republican party.
McGuffey called on DeWine to veto the provision and instead instituting some restrictions on who can buy the items.
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