BFA Legislative Chair Ken Hanson offers proponent testimony on HB54 (Restoration of Rights)

by Chad D. Baus

Buckeye Firearms Association's Legislative Chair Ken Hanson offered testimony today in support of Restoration of Rights legislation before the House Committee on Criminal Justice.

His testimony follows:

I am here today on behalf of Buckeye Firearms Association to give testimony in support of H.B. 54, and to urge the swift passage of this bill.

H.B. 54 is a law change that is forced upon Ohio in order to preserve the ability of our courts to restore civil rights to Ohio citizens. While it is not a law change that anyone would have voluntarily chosen to implement, the fact remains that if Ohio's courts are to have the ability to restore civil firearm rights to our citizens, this change must be made, and must be made in the manner specified in H.B. 54.

I would like to point out that passage of this bill does not "give" firearms to anyone. Rather, passage of this bill reauthorizes the court process that existed in Ohio prior to the Caron decision, and has existed in Ohio since at least 1974. For those of you with lingering worries, I ask that you trust Ohio's judges and prosecutors, who have overseen this process in Ohio for over three decades. These judges and prosecutors will still have a "last say" over which applicants get their rights back.

In closing, I would like to respectfully point out that this issue was first raised in front of the Ohio Senate in November of 2007, and passed the Ohio Senate last session. This issue has been discussed for quite some time within these halls, and throughout this time I have had to advise numerous clients that they were going to have to wait for legislative action to give them back what a court had already granted them. Given the lack of stakeholder opposition throughout that time, I would ask that you hold a vote on this important bill as soon as possible.

I appreciate your time, and I welcome any questions you have.

After three hearings in the House, this legislation has had more than enough consideration. In the last session, the Senate passed legislation identical to HB54. The Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association has backed the measure. The General Assembly has been aware of the problem since 2007. It is time for the Republican leadership to bring long over-due legislation to a vote.

Contact your Representative NOW and make it clear you want our bills passed with no amendments and no more waiting. This is URGENT. Two bills hang in the balance!

Click here to tell your Representative you want our bills passed NOW!

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.