SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- City Council, seeing itself as assuming a leadership role among Greater Cleveland communities, has become the first local council to pass legislation asking the state to ban the sale of assault weapons.

The resolution, passed Monday night, also calls for the banning of ammunition magazines in excess of 10 rounds.

Councilman-at-large Marty Gelfand sponsored the legislation, which he said only the city of Akron has thus far passed.

"I was inspired by the kids who were tired of politicians with reasons why they can't do anything," Gelfand said during a Monday evening council Safety Committee meeting he chaired to discuss the resolution. "I thought, 'I'm a politician. What am I doing?'

"It was time for me to stand up for something, or not do anything at all."

After a gunman used an assault weapon to kill 17 people, including 14 students, Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. -- the most recent of several mass killings over the past two decades -- it touched off a national debate about gun control, and specifically assault weapons.

Students, concerned about their safety while in school, around the country are planning 17-minute walkouts on Wednesday morning to call attention to the need for stricter regulations and to remember the dead.

Ward 1 Councilwoman Ruth Gray said she believes that, while there have been calls in the past after such shootings for stricter regulations, this time people have had enough and that something will be done.

"I'm just excited that we're the first in the area to pass this legislation," Gray said. "This is the call to action. I think things are going to change."

Police Chief Kevin Nietert said: "I support the resolution. I wish at the local level of government there was something more we can do."

Municipalities cannot ban assault weapons within their borders. Such action can only be taken on the state level, as ruled on in 2010 by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Ohio Senate Bill 260

The Ohio Senate is now considering SB 260, sponsored by Democratic Senators Michael Skindell, of District 23, and Charleta Tavares, of District 15.

SB 260 would prohibit a person from "knowingly possessing or acquiring an assault weapon" and would "require the Attorney General to prepare for the establishment of a firearm and ammunition transactions base."

Residents group supports ban

During the committee meeting, residents such as David Eggert, a retired public school teacher, spoke in favor of the resolution.

"I wonder how many of us knew (when in school) what a lockdown is?" Eggert asked those in attendance.

Eggert said many did know, however, of the 1950s and '60s "duck and cover" rule, in which students were told to get under their desks in the event of a nuclear attack.

But, he said, unlike mass shootings at schools, "Not one of us ever heard of a kid dying from a nuclear missile."

As for an assault weapon ban, Eggert said, "The public is behind it."

Eggert's wife, the Rev. Kristine Eggert, like her husband a member of the local God Before Guns organization, spoke just before council took its vote.

She said that assault weapons "are not necessary for self defense and are far too popular among mass killers."

Rev. Eggert said that banning assault weapons is not the total solution, but is a step in the right direction.

University Heights among other communities interested in gun bans

South Euclid City Council is not the only local entity considering measures on assault rifles. The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education, on March 6, approved a resolution calling on President Donald Trump, the U.S. Congress, Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly "to enact common sense gun laws and mental health legislation to protect our children, our teachers and staff, and our schools."

Gelfand said he had been contacted by Cleveland Councilman Kevin Conwell, who was interested in perhaps using South Euclid's legislation as a guide to similar legislation in Cleveland.

University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan, during his remarks at that city's March 5 council meeting, stated that, in the wake of the Parkland shootings, he had been asked by several residents if the city would take some type of action.

Noting that only the state can regulate firearms, Brennan said, "What can we do? We can pass a resolution calling upon the Ohio General Assembly to take action, and recommend what that action may be."

Brennan said University Heights could also call for a ban on certain firearms, such as the AR-15; accessories such as the bump stock, which can make a semi-automatic weapon fire at a near automatic weapon rate; urge implementations of firearms restraining orders, as is done in California; and seek the repeal of Ohio Revised Code 9.68, and restore local gun control to local governments.

"It seems as if we may well be at a turning point in this country," Brennan said. "I say this as someone who has trained and been certified in basic firearms by an NRA-certified instructor, and otherwise generally supports the right to bear arms.

"In my view, no constitutional right is unlimited. As for the Second Amendment, I respectfully submit that an AR-15 modified with a bump stock is not worthy of constitutional protection," he said.

South Euclid City Council Clerk Keith Benjamin said that he intends to spread the word of what his city has done by sharing it with First Suburbs Consortium community members, as well as other area cities.