COLUMBUS, Ohio—On Aug. 6, just two days after a gunman killed 10 people outside a Dayton bar, Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled his plan to reform Ohio’s gun laws – including near-universal background checks and a “red-flag” law.

Now, more than two months later, DeWine has revealed the details of the draft legislation he wants lawmakers (including skeptical Republicans) to pass. And they’re less strict than what the governor originally proposed.

Instead of near-universal background checks, the governor is now looking to create a voluntary state-level background check process for gun sales between private sellers. Rather than a “red-flag” system allowing judges to order the seizure of guns from people deemed a threat to themselves or others, DeWine is now seeking to expand the state’s existing “pink-slip” law to allow authorities to send people with drug or alcohol problems to a psychiatric hospital, where they cannot legally have access to guns.

DeWine, a Greene County Republican, said Monday he revised his earlier gun plan because of concerns it wouldn’t pass the GOP-dominated Ohio General Assembly. But he said his new plan would “get the job done” and predicted it would pass the legislature, though he said he neither asked for nor received any assurances from legislative leaders that they would approve it.

“Frankly, I think this is a much stronger bill," the governor said. "I think it’s going to be much more effective.”

Asked about the impact the reforms would make, DeWine said, “I don’t think anyone who’s responsible would stand up here and tell you this is going to save X number of lives or it’s going to reduce X number of murders."

However, the governor added, “I believe that every single part of this [plan] can save lives."

Unlike federally licensed gun dealers, private sellers aren’t required to conduct background checks before selling a firearm – a loophole that gun-control advocates have sought to close.

Under the governor’s plan, people looking to sell a gun privately to another individual could go to their county sheriff, who would run a background check on the potential buyer. If the check came back clean, the sheriff would issue a “seller protection certificate” to the would-be seller, offering confidence that he or she was selling the gun to a respectable buyer.

It’s already illegal in Ohio to recklessly sell a gun to someone not allowed to own one. The governor’s plan would lower that bar to make it illegal to negligently sell a gun to someone who can’t own one -- a move that would “essentially eliminate the claim that the seller had no way to know of the buyer’s background,” according to an explanation guide put out by the governor’s office.

DeWine is further seeking to increase Ohio’s penalty for negligently selling a firearm from a fourth-degree felony (punishable by 6-18 months in prison and/or a $5,000 fine) to a third-degree felony (which can bring up to 3 years behind bars and a $10,000 fine).

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who laid out the plan with DeWine at a Columbus news conference, said no law-abiding gun owner wants to sell a gun to someone who shouldn’t have one – much less face the legal consequences of doing so.

DeWine also retreated from his call for a “red-flag” law. Many legislative Republicans have concerns about red flag laws, saying they worried that such a law would allow the government to seize guns without a hearing -- and, if hearings were required, that they would warn people ahead of time that their guns were about to be taken.

Rather, the governor’s new proposal builds on state’s existing “pink-slip” law allowing involuntary psychiatric hospitalization for people suspected of being likely to cause harm to themselves or others. Under existing law, such people cannot own or buy a gun.

Individuals undergoing court-ordered treatment would have the option to sell their firearms to a licensed firearm dealer, turn their firearms over to a family member, or give them to police, according to his proposal.

Right now, state law doesn’t allow “pink slips” for drug or alcohol problems. The governor’s proposal would change the law to include such issues.

Another part of DeWine’s plan, which he previously outlined, would require warrants, court orders, and other actions to be entered into state and federal background-check databases. Late last month, two GOP state representatives brought forward a similar bill that would also allow involuntary drug-abuse hospitalizations and raise the minimum age at which Ohioans’ juvenile records can be destroyed from 23 to 28.

The latter proposal was introduced because the 26-year-old Dayton shooter had his juvenile record expunged, allowing him to pass background checks to buy the guns he used in the attack.

DeWine is also asking state lawmakers to toughen state penalties for a number of gun-related crimes. In August, the governor said he would seek to raise the penalty for felons caught illegally possessing a gun from a third-degree felony (up to 3 years in prison) to a second-degree felony (2-8 years in prison) for a first offense.

The governor’s revised gun plan seeks extra prison time as well for people convicted of “straw man” purchases (having a third party purchase a gun for someone not allowed to buy one), providing guns to minors, and possessing or brandishing a weapon while committing a felony.

DeWine laid out the draft language of his 17-point gun bill to reporters, accompanied by the bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls. Also on hand were Husted and two Democratic mayors: Nan Whaley of Dayton and Jamael Tito Brown of Youngstown.

However, many of DeWine’s proposals have already drawn a cool reception from many Republicans in the legislature -- including House Speaker Larry Householder, who said earlier that the governor’s plan will be “very, very difficult” to pass in the House. House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat, also told reporters last month that she believes the Ohio legislature “will not be passing any significant gun legislation.”

Whaley said Monday that the proposed bill doesn’t go far enough to keep Ohioans safe from gun violence. But she called it an “important start.”

Whaley continued: “Governing is difficult; and change can be slow."

An Ohio group is continuing to collect signatures in an effort to get a proposal for near-universal gun background checks on the ballot, an idea that polls have shown has overwhelming public support.

Here’s more on the plan from the DeWine administration: