Tagged: Guns

Ohio’s Republican Sen. Rob Portman says today he could be open to new gun restrictions. The includes a ban on assault weapons that he voted against when he was new to Congress in 1994.

In a conference call with reporters, Portman stood by his vote as a freshman congressman 18 years ago against a ban on assault-style weapons.

“I don’t regret my vote because I made it based on the facts at hand, which was that this would not have an impact on crime and that specifically these tended not to be the weapons that were being used,” says Portman.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says he wants to give teachers the tools they need to prevent or deal with school shootings.

"The truth is that while we train first responders, the real first responders in these tragedies are teachers.  They are the ones who are there," says DeWine. "They are the ones who make the life and death decisions.  They are the ones who are going to do what they can do to save lives.  By the time the first responders get there, we may have a number of children killed."

Gov. John Kasich says he'll sign a new law allowing guns into the Ohio Statehouse parking garage - despite calls that he veto the bill in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Republican governor is expected to sign the legislation this week. It will allow guns for the first time in the parking garages underneath the Statehouse in Columbus.

Guns would have to be kept in cars, and would not be allowed into the Statehouse.