Democratic Rep. Bob Hagan of Youngstown says he has disagreed with Republican US Senator Rob Portman on changes to collective bargaining laws, on environmental issues, and on same sex marriage before Portman’s headline-making change of heart.

But it was Portman’s vote against the measure to require tighter background checks on gun buyers that made Hagan decide to challenge Portman in the 2016 election.

I’m going to be the hair shirt of his campaign. I’m going to follow wherever he is and make him itch and answer the questions. Why did he ignore the public – like, by the way, most of those Senators have been doing in the US Senate for way too long. They’ve been beholden to too many lobbyists, and I’m going to take them on because of that.

Hagan says this isn’t a stunt – he’s been considering other offices, including Congressman Tim Ryan’s seat if Ryan had decided to run for the Democratic nomination for governor next year. In many ways, Hagan seems an unlikely choice as a US Senate candidate.

He has a long history in the Statehouse, but has never run statewide. He is unabashedly liberal, enjoying strong support from unions and Democratic groups. And because he’s been in a safe district for many years, he hasn’t had to raise much money.

But Ohio Democratic Party Chair Chris Redfern, Hagan’s colleague in the Ohio House, stands behind him.

“Bob Hagan can win anywhere. If you take the truth to the people of this state, you’re going to win. Sherrod Brown proved it. You know, Barack Obama proved it.”

In his weekly conference call with reporters, Rob Portman said he voted against the background checks bill because he didn’t feel it would stop future gun violence but might infringe on gun owners’ rights. He was also asked about Hagan’s possible campaign against him based on this vote.

For me this isn’t about politics yet. This is about principle and I take that very seriously as do a lot of my constituents. So instead of making this partisan, I’ll be continuing to try to find solutions to gun violence and to this culture of violence.

Portman says he received what he called a lot more letters from Ohioans against the background checks bill than for it.

But a Quinnipiac poll last month showed 90 percent of Ohio voters – including 86 percent of households where there is a gun – favored background checks for all gun purchases.

Wednesday’s vote was a jarring blow to the drive to curb firearms sparked by December’s massacre of children and staff at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. President Barack Obama made broadened background checks the centerpiece of his gun control proposals.

The roll call was also a victory for the National Rifle Association, which opposed the plan as an ineffective infringement on gun rights.

The proposal would have required background checks for all transactions at gun shows and online. Currently they must occur for sales handled by licensed gun dealers.

The system is designed to keep criminals and people with mental problems from getting guns.

Rob Portman was among the senators voting against the measure.  His office released the following statement:

“Having carefully reviewed the Manchin-Toomey legislation, unfortunately, I do not believe it would be effective in preventing the kind of heartbreaking loss of life seen in Newtown or in other recent tragic incidents.  It does, however, contain several provisions that would make it more difficult for law-abiding Ohioans to exercise their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights. I do believe there are actions Congress can and should take to reduce gun violence without infringing on Second Amendment rights, and I look forward to supporting such amendments.

“We’ve had our medics shot out. We’ve had the front windows of our fire house shot out,” Columbus Assistant Fire Chief David Whiting said.

Whiting was among area emergency personnel who met at a Clintonville firehouse to call for commonsense gun regulations.

“I’ve been on runs, the first one there, where I have a five-year-old that’s been shot by their brother. And they’re dead,” he recalled.

Columbus Fire reports 1,800 gun-related incidents during the past five years.

Whiting said the calls pose a dangerous and emotional setting. Some EMTs have begun wearing bullet-proof vests. And once the job is complete, they rely on each other for support.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital trauma surgeon Jonathan Groner, who has treated child gunshot victims, also supports gun restrictions. And Groner urges more gun research funding. But he said the dialogue needs to change first.

“Putting this in the context of a constitutional issue is really not helpful from a public health perspective…I think to get it out of that context is probably one of the big first steps. It’s not a constitutional issue, it’s public health issue,” Groner said.

While failing to point to specifics, the group does support background checks.

Much like the city of Mansfield, the complex that is Hi Point Firearms is unassuming. There’s no flashy sign – there’s no sign at all, actually – to indicate one of the nation’s largest gun producers is next door to Joe’s Auto Sales.

Several white buildings fill the site, and it’s easy to miss the tiny “office” sign on a rear building. But gun shop owners have found it. The phones began ringing off the hook in December, right after the Connecticut shootings.

“It went crazy basically,” Hi Point Firearms owner Tom Deeb said.

Deeb could not have known then how the unthinkable Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting would affect his business, the industry or the nation for that matter. It didn’t cross Deeb’s mind. Instead, his initial thought was, “God, I hope it wasn’t one of my guns.”

It wasn’t one of his guns. But a Hi Point gun was used in another school shooting. Fourteen years ago, he received an urgent trace request from Colorado authorities. One of Deeb’s 9 mm carbine rifles was among the arsenal of weapons used at the Columbine High School shooting in which 12 students and a teacher were killed. An investigator with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department says the Hi Point rifle killed five students and injured nine others.

“No one in their right mind does that stuff…If there was some way to legislate the evil out of people hearts I know that we would do that. But there isn’t.”

President Obama and others on Capitol Hill have proposed new, tougher gun control to help prevent mass shootings and other gun violence. They want to ban semiautomatic rifles, limit magazines to ten bullets and institute background checks on all gun purchases.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein wants to ban military style rifles with features like pistol grips.

If the ban passes, Deeb will have to redesign all the rifles he sells.

“For politicians who don’t know anything about firearms, and know even less about what people want, to me, it’s just insanity,” Deeb said. “Why in the world would they demonize a firearm for having a handle and being more ergonomically friendly? It’s just ridiculous.”

Deeb, who is in his 60s, has owned a gun his entire adult life. The first one he said he bought was a low cost gun, a Ruger, because that’s all he could afford.

“At that time that was a cheap gun. They’re not cheap anymore.”

Now Deeb makes some of the cheapest guns in the industry. A Hi Point pistol starts around $150. His carbines sell as low as $285.

“All I can say is I get a lot of fun out of shooting, and I want the same thing for other people,” Deeb said. “All I can say is I make guns for the working people. Not for the elite people. And that’s just how it is.”

While gun owners give Hi Point guns rave reviews, he faces sharp criticism for them. Some gun control advocates say his cheap guns are popular among criminals.

In fact, Deeb, his distributor and a dealer a being sued by a New York man who was shot by a gang member with a Hi Point gun.

This is the first time a gun maker could be held liable under the shield law which protects them against civil claims.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence says because the gun industry places profits over people, it should be held accountable.

“There’s two sides to every story. I make inexpensive guns,” Deeb said. “But I don’t make them for criminals. I make them for people like myself, and for people that need them.”

Deeb prides himself in being one of a few gun makers in the country who help solve crimes.

Chris Monturo is a forensic firearm examiner with the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab in Dayton. Monturo said Hi Point guns are the only ones in the U.S. with hidden serial numbers on

“So even if a criminal were to totally obliterate a serial number, we can go to a separate location and view the serial number and be able to report that to the police for them to follow as to the original purchaser of the gun to see if it was bought illegally or transferred illegally,” Monturo said.

Back at a Hi Point warehouse, an employee fires off eight rounds at a time, testing a gun repair. It is one of 50 repairs workers made that week. Three times the normal rate.

“We think they’re digging them up from underground or somewhere. We’re getting repairs we’ve never seen before,” Deeb said.

It’s all part of the post-Sandy Hook surge in gun sales. Deeb is closely watching the fight over gun control. He said he’s confident much of it won’t pass. Deeb doesn’t appear too worried either, partly because he’s so busy.

“It’s caused an enormous stir in the gun industry. And anything that fires a projectile, people are getting a hold of, want to get fixed up, trade it while the craze is going on or keep it themselves,” Deeb said.

Deeb admits the surge in the gun sales has been lucrative for his company. But he said it’s taken a toll on his employees.

“Yeah, financially, yeah it’s been profitable. But it’s not anything that I want. And mean if it were up to me none of this would ever happen.”

The TV at the Powder Room Shooting Range in Powell was tuned to President Obama’s speech, but the sound of gun fire made it hard to hear him.

Gun owner Ron Merritt of Columbus kept one ear on the president as he waited his turn to practice his marksmanship. Merritt doubts whether the president’s actions will reduce gun violence.

I was pretty disappointed; I felt that none of his proposals are actually going to deal with the issue of violence.

Central Ohio gun owners don’t seem swayed by the recent mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Gun sales are up, and a half-dozen interviews with gun shop customers indicates a frustration with talk of banning assault weapons, and high capacity magazines.

“I’m hoping that they do sit down and discuss it and someone does an analysis of why do people commit mass murder and find out what the root cause analysis is and not just immediately go after the object, the inanimate object that has no will of its own, the individual has the will, not the object,” said Powder Room part owner Steve Yuszka.

As Mitch and Debbie Abram finished a round of target shooting at the Powder Room, they said they worry more about keeping 2nd amendment rights in the wake of the president’s actions.

Mitch: “Well quite honestly, I think it’s a violation of our constitutional rights.”

Debbie: “I keep going back to one man and that’s Hitler. It’s not the guns, it’s the man. And if the government takes your rights away and your guns what else can they do?

Reporter: “I have to ask though, Is that a real legitimate fear? Do you actually think that there’s a possibility that this country would go that far?”

Debbie Abram: “Yes, sir. I do.”

Reporter: “You do?”

Debbie Abrams: “I do, I absolutely do. I mean I see so much now that actually shocks me.”

As for recent surveys that show a majority of Americans disagree with her, and support additional restrictions, Debbie Abram says she doesn’t believe the polls.

Some of the President’s proposals require congressional approval.

Click here to hear from a gun control advocate who is applauding the President’s efforts to reduce gun violence.

“It is, in the most profound way, utterly senseless,” says Rev. Tracey Lind from Trinity Cathedral.

Lind started out her Sunday sermon mourning the 28 people who died in Newtown, Conn., last Friday. Many churches around the country prayed for the victims – including 20 6- and 7-year-old children attending Newtown Elementary School.

And they reflected on the violence.

But at Trinity Cathedral, Lind suddenly changed gears.

“I’m going to invite you to sit in triads and talk about one or more of the following questions.”

Parishioners then received bulletins asking them to reflect on how they should mourn, how they can make sense of the tragedy, and where they see God in this whole mess.

Lind also wanted people to think about an Ohio bill that lawmakers passed Thursday now awaiting the governor’s signature.

House Bill 495 is going to increase the potential for future tragedies by allowing a gun, and specifically semi-automatic weapons and their magazines, to be transported in the same vehicle. And it will also allow people to have their firearms in their cars in the Statehouse parking garage.

“And all of our kids – I mean, I still remember my fourth- or fifth-grade class going down to the Statehouse to learn about state government. And we have an opportunity to say to our governor, with love and respect and accountability, ‘We would like you to stop this.’”

Lind handed out a sample letter in which parishioners could petition Kasich to veto the bill, which also addresses reciprocity with other states’ concealed carry permits.

State Rep. Terry Johnson, a freshman from rural southern Ohio, authored the legislation. He likens it to a driver’s license.

Each state has varying degrees of requirements to get a driver’s license, but nevertheless we recognize all licenses. The concealed handgun permits should function the same way. If someone has a California driver’s license, or an Arkansas driver’s license, and they come to Ohio, they still have to obey Ohio law when they’re here.”

Under current law if someone has a loaded magazine—or clip –and a gun, it’s considered a loaded weapon and it’s banned in a vehicle. The law would change that so loaded clips and guns could be carried side-by-side. Only a bullet-filled magazine actually inserted into a gun would be banned.

“House Bill 495 improves upon existing gun laws, making them easier to read, enforce and comply with.”

But back in Trinity Cathedral, Ward Heinz and Linda Zolten-Wood say state law should be going the other way, making it harder, not easier, to carry weapons and ammunition. They differ on whether their voices will be heard.

Ward Heinz: “I just think the NRA is so powerful and so wealthy, they have so much money…”

Linda Zolten-Wood: “Look at how much money was wasted on the election, and it’s meaningless now. We have a voice! And it does give me optimism. This is a next step with the letter-writing. This is definitive.”

Ward Heinz: “I’m grateful for this. And I’m grateful for your optimism. I just don’t share it when it comes to the NRA.”

Linda Zolten-Wood: “I’m not saying get rid of all guns. I’m saying regulate them as if they were gonna drive a car.”

Ward Heinz: “That may be the answer to the first question, ‘Where do you see God today?’”

But he and many people seemed to be looking for answers to that question in a spiritual, as well as political, way during the service. It closed with the reading of the names of the victims, including the shooter and his mother. Todd Ruth from Lakewood thought that was appropriate.

“We need to pray for him. He’s a child of God. The first thing you have to remember is that everyone is a child of God.”

Trinity Cathedral plans to gather as many letters as possible and send them to Gov. Kasich early this week.