Ohio legislative Democrats introduced a bill today intended to "harmonize state law and federal law" by tightening domestic violence gun laws.

If a longshot bill becomes law, judges in Ohio would get the right to order the confiscation of firearms when issuing temporary protection orders.

House Democrats Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and Janine Boyd, D-Cleveland Heights, introduced a bill Tuesday seeking to tighten gun restrictions on domestic abuse offenders. The crux of the bill deals with those convicted of domestic abuse misdemeanors, and would require them to hand over their firearms.

But the bill also allows judges "judicial discretion" in cases when a temporary restraining order is issued. Antonio said this would allow for a "cooling off" period. The judge would also decide whether the offender can receive the weapons back after the order has been lifted.

�For me as a woman, as a legislator, as a member of a community, who knows we never really know what goes on behind closed doors, this is personal,� Boyd said.

The protections already exist to some extent at the federal level.

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Under federal law, those convicted of domestic abuse cannot posses a gun. But Antonio said the lack of a state bill addressing these same issues mean there is no framework for enforcing the federal law in Ohio.

Antonio introduced a similar proposal in 2013 with Rep. Robert Hagan, D-Youngstown, but that bill died in committee.

�This is the right time to address this because women continue to die,� she said. �Children continue to be orphaned and to be victims themselves, and so this is the right time to play on the conscience of our fellow legislators.�

Boyd said the bill currently does not have any Republican cosponsors, but noted that some Republican lawmakers have expressed an interest in protecting domestic violence victims.

Last month, the House passed a bill that would remove domestic abuse survivors� information from public records.

�Many of our Republican peers believe in holding criminals responsible for their crime,� she said. "They�ve said that on more than one occasion. So when the criminal and the crime are using a gun to threaten or harm to the victim of domestic violence, I would think they would want to hold that person accountable as well.�

Dan Rieck, the executive director of the Buckeye Firearms Association, said the "judicial discretion" portion bill would give judges too broad of an ability to take away guns from nonviolent citizens.

"The Buckeye Firearm Association would never want any violent person who's a proven threat to have a firearm," he said. "But this bill is overly broad. These kind of bills are based on a fallacy."

He said there are already proper laws in place to prevent firearms from falling in violent hands. If those laws aren't being enforced, adding another law to the books won't do much good.

The bill has the support of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and Ohioans for Safe Communities.

�When do we start to take the death of women seriously in Ohio?� said Nancy Neylon, executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network. �By separating domestic abusers from their firearms, we can potentially save lives.�

William T. Perkins is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps Statehouse News Bureau.

wperkins@dispatch.com

@wtperkins