CINCINNATI — People convicted of domestic violence could no longer be able to legally possess a gun in Cincinnati, and legal gun owners are facing new safe storage rules if ordinances introduced by Mayor Aftab Pureval and Cincinnati city council members Tuesday morning become law.
Pureval, alongside several city council members and locally-based gun violence advocates, announced the two ordinances, which will be presented at the Public Safety & Governance Committee on Tuesday. From there, they could head to city council for a vote that would make the ordinances law. It's unclear when they would go into effect if that happens.
"This is a major step forward in making Cincinnati a safer place for all," said Cincinnati Police Chief Teresa Theetge during a press conference. "Through this new legislation we are working together to prevent acts of gun violence and unintentional shootings that cause our communities unimaginable grief and pain."
Having a firearm after being convicted of a domestic violence charge would become a misdemeanor offense that would be punishable by up to one year in prison, Pureval said.
The second ordinance introduced requires gun owners to store their firearms safely, specifically around children.
He and several other speakers, including council members, lamented state laws put in place in recent years preventing cities from passing their own laws and ordinances relating to gun control, tobacco regulation, climate change and other issues.
"Domestic violence has increased," said Jan-Michele Kearney, vice mayor of Cincinnati. "And so we don’t want guns in the hands of those who will cause harm to their intimate partner or child. So that’s our job, to protect the people of Cincinnati and that’s what we’re doing."
Kearney called the policies announced Thursday "common sense," pointing out that every Cincinnati police district office has free gun locks any citizen can have, they just have to go pick one up. Through partnerships with gun safety advocacy groups, these locks have been available since 2020.
Free gun locks are available at the front desk of all five of our Districts. Thanks to @ProjChildSafe and @WhitStrongOrg #Firearmsafety pic.twitter.com/F9PUS1vVlC
— Cincinnati Police Department (@CincyPD) April 14, 2020
Liz Keating, the only Republican on the Cincinnati city council, began her input with statistics: In 2022, 472 guns were stolen in Cincinnati, 584 illegally-possessed guns were recovered and 38 shootings in the city involved children.
She, too, emphasized that Cincinnati couldn't rely on state or federal lawmakers to enact policies that curb gun violence.
"This is our city, these are our kids and it is our duty to protect them," said Keating. "We are the ones who are picking up our children's bloody, dead bodies off our streets. We are the ones who are listening to the parents’ bloodcurdling screams ... We are the ones who should be making the decisions to protect our youth."
A gun-rights organization released a statement, vowing to fight the proposals.
"Buckeye Firearms Association and Ohio's 4 million gun owners will fight this," said Dean Rieck, executive director of Buckeye Firearms Association. "We will not allow rogue cities to eviscerate the progress we've made over the last two decades just so they can grandstand and pretend that they're fighting crime, when all they're doing is wasting taxpayer dollars on political theater."
Currently, a state law prevents cities in Ohio from overriding state laws to regulate firearms. The law stopped Cincinnati from banning bump stocks in 2018.
“They're going to probably cite the case where Cincinnati lost last time and Cincinnati is going to have to make an argument about how what they're doing now is distinguishable from how they lost previously,” said attorney Matt Miller-Novak. “The only way that they can do what is in their mission is to challenge government laws. This is the way our society works. It's a tug-of-war of interest, and everybody has interest that they believe in.”
The mayor said the newest proposals were “narrowly tailored” to withstand a legal challenge. The city has also filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that state law has “unconstitutionally infringed” on the city’s right to “enact common-sense gun regulations,” according to the complaint.
“Lawmakers in the state of Ohio have tied our hands behind our back with broad restricted preemption laws that preclude cities like ours from doing what's necessary for public safety,” said Pureval.
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