Columbus officials are pushing back against a Delaware County judge and statewide forces that are trying to limit the city's efforts to curb gun violence.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said his office filed a motion to stay the judgment of Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David M. Gormley.
Gormley issued a preliminary injunction in the case on Tuesday, halting enforcement of a city ban on certain firearm magazines of 30 or more bullets and requirements for safe gun storage.
Klein said the city is fighting on several fronts, despite what he said is a lack of political will from the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Ohio Statehouse to legislate on guns. But he said he believes the city will win in the courts.
"We will fight every step of the way until this ends up in the Ohio Supreme Court. And I honestly believe that we will win. I believe we will win, because common sense and the law is on our side," Klein said.
Klein said the city is also asking the judge to reconsider the fact that because of jurisdictional questions of the case being filed in Delaware County, whether the injunction applies to the entire city of Columbus or just the portion of Columbus located in Delaware County.
Klein and other city officials stressed the need to safely store guns at a press conference Friday and encouraged safe gun ownership amid a rise in gun violence recently among young people. A big problem Klein, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Police Chief Elaine Bryant and Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said they want to address is safe gun storage.
The city is offering free lock boxes to residents through the Department of Public Health. The city distributed 2,100 lockboxes in 2022 and has already given out 1,100 this year.
Roberts said the lockboxes cost between $30 and $40 in stores.
Roberts also said gun owners should make sure the gun is unloaded and secured by using a trigger lock, a biometric lock or gun case, a gun cabinet or safe. And the ammunition should be stored safely and separately from the firearm.
Bryant said that in 2022, 89% of the city's homicide victims died from a gunshot wound compared to 86% this year. The city also set a record last year, seizing 3,356 firearms compared to 1,060 this year.
She held up a glock switch, a small device that converts a semi-automatic pistol into a fully automatic weapon. She said last year a total of 17 were seized, whereas 26 have already been seized this year.
"This this little plastic piece of device can allow a gun to be turned into an automatic weapon and fire up to 30 rounds in 30 seconds," she said.
Bryant spoke about five specific incidents that have taken place in the last week involving young people and firearms. These included one on April 21 where a 3-year-old shot their father in the chest while playing with a firearm.
"As a parent, I am appealing to the parents and adults in our city. Lock up your weapons. Keep them out of the hands of the young people," Bryant said.
Klein played a video at a press conference that showed two children playing with a gun in January when it goes off twice, nearly hitting one of the children.
"This isn't just some liberal city idea to store your guns," Klein said. "This is the real world that we're dealing with every single day. I don't know how you can look at this as a parent and not have the hair on the back of your neck stick up."
