It’s been almost two months since Gov. Mike DeWine proposed a package of gun law and mental health policy changes, and he says lawmakers will soon look over his official language on the proposals.
The governor is confident the measures will pass despite concerns raised by House Speaker Larry Householder.
DeWine has been working on the package since unveiling it a few days after the Dayton mass shooting.
He's made some announcements, such as a proposal to enhance criminal background checks by requiring warrants to be added to state and federal background systems along with violent protective orders and other offenses. He also signed an executive order to establish the Ohio School Safety Center.
Although he still hasn't unveiled the package of plans he's worked on with Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and gun rights advocates such as the Buckeye Firearms Association. This package is different than the set of seven bills that were heard in a Senate committee last week - three of which were bipartisan.
DeWine said he has respect for Householder’s worries about background checks for personal gun sales and his overall concerns about a version of a red flag gun seizure law.
“The natural skepticism that all of us should have about any attempt to deal with issues in this area that it might infringe on someone’s Second Amendment rights I certainly respect that, and I was not troubled at all by the Speaker’s comments," DeWine said.
However DeWine says the package he’ll bring to the legislature shortly will not infringe on Second Amendment rights and will be constitutional, but he also says it will pass and will do something to make Ohioans safer.
Householder has said he thinks passing DeWine's gun regulations will be difficult, and that there are members of his caucus who will not vote for some of the changes he's publicly talked about.
