I’m afraid I have bad news (again).
News broke last night that HB228 is dead for the remainder of the summer session, with a chance they may call it up in the fall.
As you know, HB228 is the watered-down gun bill that we were ready to FIX with an amendment by Representative Nino Vitale into a rock-solid Stand-Your-Ground bill!
On top of that, State and Local Governement Committee Chairwoman Marlene Anielski’s office put out a bulletin late yesterday afternoon (Monday) announcing that Governor Kasich’s gun-control bill, HB585, has the green-light from leadership (aka Speaker of the House, Rep. Ryan Smith) for a FOURTH hearing!
And that hearing is happening TODAY at 3:00pm, where they’ll likely amend the bill to be more “palatable” in order to pass the bill out of committee!
Once out of committee, HB585 is eligible for floor action at ANY moment, and can easily be amended into the full-blown gun-control bill that Kasich and his ilk are working overtime to pass.
To be blunt, House Speaker Ryan Smith isn’t getting the message gun owners statewide are laying down.
It is NOT acceptable for House Leadership to sandbag pro-gun reforms like Representative Vitale’s amendment to HB228 only to have Governor Kasich’s gun-control bill green-lighted.
Gun owners have been beating back gun-grabber Governor Kasich and his cronies all session long, and we sure as heck aren’t about to stop now!
For Freedom,
— Chris Dorr, Director
Ohio Gun Owners
NOTE: If the links above don’t auto-populate a pre-written email to Speaker Ryan Smith, please copy and paste the email addresses, subject line and message body text below into your own email program and send it immediately!
Email addresses: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject Line: STOP further hearings on Kasich’s gun-control, HB585!
Message Body: Speaker Smith,
Please let me be clear: as a gun-owning voter, it is unacceptable for the House to continue advancing HB585 through the legislative process.
Specifically, gun owners are sick and tired of pro-gun reforms like Representative Vitale’s amendment for Stand-Your-Ground getting sandbagged while Governor Kasich gets to commandeer our General Assembly to advance his gun-control bill!
As Speaker of the House, you are not obligated to advance Governor Kasich’s planned Presidential campaign.
And this isn’t what “pro-gun majorities” are elected to do.
Please step up to the plate for gun owners and give the order to STOP any further advancements of HB585 – INCLUDING hearings!
Instead, please urge the adoption of the Vitale Amendment to HB228 and pass it out of the House as amended so that gun owners know exactly who to storm the polls for in the coming elections!