Democrat House Speaker's choices for Criminal Justice Committee cause concern among gun-owners

By Jim Irvine

Speaker of the House Armond Budish (D-8) has announced the committees for the 128th General Assembly. While the Democratic House leadership is noticeably pro-2nd Amendment, the Ohio Criminal Justice Committee (CJC) is not. This is of concern to gun owners because the CJC has been where gun bills are typically assigned.

After a bill is introduced, it is assigned to one of the committees. The committee members hear testimony, hold meetings with interested parties and work out any problems the original drafting of the bill contained. It is in the committee where terrible amendments are added to good bills (for example, this where the "no CCW permitted if any occupant of the car is under 18" provision was added back in HB12 days) and needed amendments are added to a bill (for example, this is where language improving laws pertaining to transportation of firearms was added in SB184). While it is possible to amend bills on the floor, the reality is that the lion's share of work is done in committee. Generally, a good committee will produce a better bill.

Looking at the House CJC, we see cause for concern.

The Chairman is Tyrone Yates (D-33). He is responsible for scheduling bills for hearings and for votes on specific amendments and the vote out of committee, thus sending it to the full house for passage.

Chairman Yates was rated "F" by the NRA-PVF (National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund). He has consistently voted against concealed carry, Castle Doctrine and other issues important to law-abiding gun owners. He was one of only 3 people to vote against HB450, which restored rights of military members aged 18-20 to purchase handguns. As Chairman, he has the power to kill any bill he does not like.

Other majority members are:

Connie Pillich (D-28)
Timothy DeGeeter (D-15)
Nancy Garland (D-20)
Eugene Miller (D-10)
Mark Schneider (D-63)

Only Eugene Miller took the time to return a survey to us during the last election cycle. While he is no rah-rah gun guy, Representative Miller has shown an interest in understanding our issues and working to improve laws for gun owners, while at the same time cracking down on criminal use of firearms, which is a real problem in his district. He voted for each of our bills last session and earned our endorsement.

No other Democrats on the committee returned a survey to Buckeye Firearms Association. Pillich, Garland and Schneider are freshman with no voting records. Until we meet with them, work to educate them on our issues, and see how they vote, we will not know for sure if they will be friendly to our cause. While Representative DeGeeter did vote for HB450 and SB209 last session, he voted against the much-needed improvements to our concealed carry law. In prior sessions he also voted against HB347, which contained other crucial fixes as well as statewide preemption. So he supported Cleveland Mayor Jackson's quest to harass law-abiding gun owners instead of efforts to focus resources on real criminals. He earned an NRA "F" rating.

The minority members of the committee are:

William Coley (R-55)
Danny Bubp (R-88
Scott Oelslager (R-51)
Todd Snitchler (R-50)
Joe Uecker (R-66)

All of these Representatives were endorsed by Buckeye Firearms Association. Todd Snitchler is a new legislator, who does not yet have a voting record, but we expect him to be like the other Republican Committee members, all of whom have a strong voting record. All Republicans on this committee earned an "A" from the NRA-PVF, with Danny Bubp earning an A+.

To pass a bill out of committee (or to kill one), it must garner a majority of votes of committee members, or 6 of 11 votes. The Republicans should provide 5 votes. Eugene Miller will hopefully make 6.

Even more important than counting hypothetical votes, however, is the leadership of the committee. With the Democrats in power in the House, they have a majority of members on each Committee, and hold the Chairman position. They will control what legislation passes, and the details of each bill. 5 of 6 Democrats on this committee have a track record of not working with us. Passing good legislation is never easy, but passing our legislation through this committee will likely be particularly difficult.

Is there any hope this session?

Certainly there is. One thing to keep in mind is that just because our bills have gone to this committee in the past, does not mean they will go there in the future. Some legislators feel that the "criminal" committee is not the place for a bill that is about law-abiding gun owners. They believe the "Civil and Commercial Law" is a more appropriate place for our bills. This year, that committee is chaired by Mark Okey (D-61) who has is NRA "A" rated, and endorsed by both the NRA and Buckeye Firearms last year. The committee also contains other friends, both Democrat and Republican and would likely be much friendlier to our issues.

No matter what committee addresses gun legislation in the 128th General Assembly, there is always hope, because we are right, and the facts support us. By working with members of the committee to educate them and show them that our bills will not cause problems, and can actually help solve them, we can get support for our bills. This will require extra work, both from us as a group, and each of us as individuals, but it can be done.

Jim Irvine is the Buckeye Firearms Association Chairman.