Local council members approve request for common sense gun law
By Katherine Dominek, ’19
The Upper Arlington City Council unanimously passed a gun resolution on Apr. 23, urging the Ohio General Assembly to consider common sense gun legislation.
Juniors Dylan Carlson Sirvent and Kota Wharton addressed the council prior to the decision.
Wharton declared that the next step after the passage of the resolution would be the formation of a petition in support of allowing Ohio municipalities to establish individual firearm regulations through Home Rule, which is not currently in place.
Carlson praised the initiative claiming that, “[citizens] can impact change through local democracy” by voicing opinions.
The resolution encourages the General Assembly to view gun issues as a public health affair, and consider restrictions including “raising the age for purchase, adding restrictions to include universal background checks … permanently disallow the purchase of guns for persons convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses including but not limited domestic violence and felony offenses, disallow the purchase of weapons by individuals that may pose a danger to themselves or others [and] closing the gun show loop hole found under current laws.”
On May 3, Carlson, along with juniors Clare Driscoll, Cam Keller, Kelly Haddow and senior Sophia Reisman met with Representative Steve Stivers, to discuss bipartisanship and actions that could be made in the U.S. House to promote further gun reform.
Stivers, a Republican, has served in the House since 2011. His 2010 congressional campaign was endorsed by the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund and the NRA last gave him an “A” rating.
Recently, Stivers has been working towards House bipartisanship, by creating the the Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus with Congresswoman Joyce Beatty.