Despite gun violence statistics skyrocketing in all major US cities, members of the Ohio state legislature want to prevent a trend that is beginning to grow; mandated gun insurance.
“At a time where crime is escalating all over,” Ohio State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Huron) tells News 5 Cleveland, “people feel the need to protect themselves.”
That is why Gavarone and fellow Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) have introduced Senate Bill 293 which would prevent cities in Ohio and the state as a whole from imposing fees or liability insurance on law abiding gun owners.
“We certainly don’t want to have legislation or certain organizations or anyone pushing to do anything that’s going to make it harder for people to exercise those rights,” Gavarone said.
Gun control activists strongly disagree with the bill.
“Every day of the week on the news in a city like Cleveland, Ohio, there’s someone who has been shot or someone who has been wounded by guns,” activist Alfred Porter said in an interview.
“It’s not just Cleveland, it’s East Cleveland. It’s Shaker, it’s Warrenville – Other areas in Ohio that normally wouldn’t see a problem with gun violence [like] Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus.”
Although there are no cities in Ohio that are actively pursuing laws that Gavarone’s bill looks to stop, Gavarone is looking to stop the laws before they happen.
“We need to make sure that we’re protecting that right [to bear arms] and certainly requiring a fee or the carrying of insurance just builds barriers and makes it harder for people to exercise that crucial right.”
Porter says he is a supporter of the Second Amendment, but he also doesn’t see a problem with fees.
“If you are not doing anything wrong, you don’t mind laws,” he said. “I should be held accountable for what I’m going to do with a firearm.
There are obviously problems with our gun laws and I feel that the gun laws do not cover or add enough strength for that.”
Gavarone’s bill has been referred to the legislature’s Veterans and Public Safety Committee.
