4 years after Dayton shooting, lawmakers want to stop voters from curbing gun violence| Opinion

Rep. Willis Blackshear Jr., was first elected to the State House in 2020 and represents portions of Dayton, Huber Heights, and Riverside.

If you ask anyone from Dayton, they can tell you exactly where they were and how they found out about the mass shooting in the Oregon District on August 4, 2019.

I was at my aunt’s house when I started getting frightened texts and notifications that something horrific had happened in our city.

In the same way that those memories are seared into our community, so is the sad knowledge that, despite promises from our leaders that they would “do something,” nothing has changed to reduce gun violence in our state.

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On that night, a person who should have never had a gun shot 26 people, killing 9. After four years, the promises of action have been broken as the Republicans leading our state have instead passed dangerous gun laws that have only made Ohio less safe for all of us who live here.

One of the most powerful moments of the days following the shooting was when a crowd shouted down Gov. Mike DeWine when he spoke at a vigil, chanting “Do Something.”

And it seemed like he and other leaders heard our friends and neighbors when he announced sensible, though imperfect, legislation to address gun violence.

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But those promises of action were broken. After four years, we have seen no movement on common sense gun legislation.

But it wasn’t enough just to give up on much needed gun safety regulations. They went far the other direction, passing dangerous gun laws that make Ohio less safe. The extremist Republicans in the legislature passed and Gov. DeWine signed so called “stand your ground” legislation, which data shows causes more gun deaths and is especially dangerous for African Americans.

Over the objections of police officers, they passed “permitless concealed carry” which put even more guns into our communities.

According to the Dayton police, this new law has hurt their efforts to address gun violence and significantly decreased the number of illegal guns they were able to take off the streets.

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And, after the terrible school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last year, my colleagues and the governor rushed through a bill to arm teachers with very little training, even though both teachers and police spoke out against this dangerous proposal.

Now, with the anti-democratic Issue 1, they are even attempting to take away our ability to pass common sense gun rules ourselves through ballot initiatives.

In the four years since the shooting in Dayton, we have seen more and more mass shootings across our country that have claimed innocent lives.

Too many of our communities still struggle with day-to-day gun violence. And yet we have taken no action. At every opportunity, the extremist Republicans who have rigged Ohio’s legislative maps in their favor have shown us that they care more about the gun lobby than they do about Ohioans who just want to be safe.

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What is so frustrating is that we have the power to change this. Common sense solutions like universal background checks and red flag laws could have a real impact on reducing gun violence. These policies are simple and popular. All we lack is the political courage to do what is right.

No matter where you live or what you look like, you deserve to feel safe when you go to the grocery store or drop your kids off at school. But we know that isn’t the case for many families. And as elected officials, I believe we have an absolute obligation to fight for safer communities for all Ohioans.

While four years have passed since the shooting in Dayton, I refuse to let go of this fight for my community and accept more and more senseless gun violence.

If you agree that it is finally time to “do something” I hope you will join me in demanding that my colleagues in the legislature and the Governor finally do what is right and get serious about common sense gun legislation. The safety of our communities is worth it.

Rep. Willis Blackshear Jr., was first elected to the State House in 2020 and represents portions of Dayton, Huber Heights, and Riverside.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nothing done about gun violence since Dayton shooting. Issue 1 will keep it that way