Ohioans For Gun Safety Confident That Ohio Will Adopt Background Checks

Dennis Willard with Ohioans for Gun Safety was a guest on the Gary Rivers Show Tuesday morning to talk about their efforts to get legislation passed in Ohio to require background checks before purchasing a gun.

Following the interview, the organization released a statement:

Ohioans for Gun Safety released the following statement today following Gov. Mike DeWine’s announcement that he supports background checks on gun sales in the aftermath of the shootings in Dayton.

“We applaud Gov. Mike DeWine and we are calling on state lawmakers to follow his lead and pass common sense background checks for gun safety. In the aftermath of the tragedy in Dayton, where 9 innocent people lost their lives and 27 were injured, the time for action is now,” said Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Ohioans for Gun Safety. “Ohioans for Gun Safety is continuing to actively and aggressively collect signatures and we will continue to do so because 90 percent of Ohioans, including 87 percent of gun owners, support background checks for gun safety. It’s simple. If you buy a gun, get a background check and we can reduce gun violence and save lives.”

Ohioans for Gun Safety is a grassroots organization collecting signatures to bring common sense background checks for gun safety in Ohio. As Ohioans and Americans, we understand that we must balance our rights and our responsibilities in order to stop gun violence and gun tragedies. By listening to and having conversations with Ohioans about their experiences and ideas, we have built a broad-based, inclusive coalition that will make our state a safer place for our children and grandchildren through common sense background checks for gun safety.

For more information go to: www.ohioansforgunsafety.com

Ohio’s gun-death rate in 2017 was the highest since state-by-state numbers were compiled beginning in 1999, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 1,589 gun deaths in Ohio that year, 918 were by suicide, and 621 were homicides. In addition, 19 people died in accidental shootings, and 21 died from “legal intervention” — shootings by police. Ten gun deaths were unclassified. Ohio’s homicide gun-death rate was 18 percent higher than national rate of 4.5 deaths per 100,000 population.