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Following Shouts To 'Do Something,' DeWine Proposes Red Flag Law, Expanded Background Checks

mike dewine dayton shooting
John Minchillo
/
AP
Gov. Mike DeWine speaks alongside Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley during a vigil at the scene of a mass shooting, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio.

After facing shouts at a vigil Sunday to "do something" following the mass shooting in Dayton, Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday announced a list of 17 ideas he said will help keep Ohioans safer. One of those ideas proposed was a so-called "red flag" law that DeWine said would allow a court to remove guns from people who pose a threat to themselves or others.

DeWine said the temporary order would also prohibit the individual from buying guns for up to six months. The governor also laid out a process for getting the firearms back.

"An individual could apply to the court any time after three months for return of his firearms," DeWine said. "Only if that person could prove by clear and convincing evidence that they were no longer a danger to themselves or others."

The proposal also included background checks on almost all guns sales, as well as plans to ask the legislature to increase penalties for people who illegally give guns to minors. If convicted, the punishment would go up from one year to three years in prison. But, DeWine said, certain exceptions remain.

"Ohio law provides very well for father to give that gun to the son. This is done all the time. We have hunters. But that's not what we're talking about," he said.

DeWine is also calling for increased penalties for so-called "straw purchasers" – those who buy guns illegally for others. He says straw purchasers and those who receive a gun that they know to have been purchased illegally would face a second degree felony charge punishable by 2-8 years in prison.