UBC ballot initiative filed with Ohio Attorney General

[rickt]

At a joint press conference this morning, Moms Demand Action announced they will be helping Ohioans for Gun Safety collect signatures for the referendum petition.

[kcclark]

Saw a guy collecting signatures at the Westerville Library today. After I conducted my business, I asked him what his cause was. He pointed at a sign about the gun show loophole. I let him give his little talk. On the plus side, he was truthful. He said the only difference at gun shows was when a non-dealer sells a firearm. Did not expect that. He also mentioned that this would not do much if enacted. Was curious if he felt like anything was better than nothing or if he was fishing for people who wanted to get involved with the movement's bigger goals. Just seemed odd for a volunteer to basically say ballot initiative was not worth much. After his spiel, I let him know why I would not be signing. His last appeal was that selling to family members would not be affected even though I never mentioned family members.

https://www.wksu.org/post/background-ch ... s-end-year" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If the group turns in 133,000 signatures by the end of December, lawmakers would have an opportunity to pass the background checks measure.

[rickt]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — The ballot initiative group that supports universal background checks announced on Friday they will be pushing for bringing the measure to lawmakers and potentially voters in 2021.​

"We think that 2021 gives us the best opportunity to have a clear and simple and straight forward conversation with Ohio voters," said Dennis Willard, spokesman for Ohioans for Gun Safety.​

Since the effort began earlier this year, the group has kept their options open as to when it would pursue the initiated statute, saying the earliest it would bring it up is on the November 2020 ballot and at the latest the November 2021 ballot.​

They began accumulating petition signatures through grassroots means and volunteers, a slower process than paying for petition gatherers.​

The deadline to turn in petitions to qualify for putting the initiated statute in front of lawmakers is Dec. 28.

The group does not plan to meet that deadline and has refocused their efforts in making 2021 their line in the sand.

Also...

There are a number of reasons why Ohioans for Gun Safety have chosen to wait until 2021 to pursue this endeavor.​

The first, and probably most important, is a potential lack of sufficient petition signatures.

...

Another reason to hold off until 2021 is the political climate the measure would face heading into the 2020 presidential election.

Many are already preparing for a charged political fight over the next year, and the group doesn’t want to wade into that turbulent quagmire of competing ideas, especially as advertising space is finite, and because the demand for that space will be high.

The fear is the price for that space will high be as well.​

...

Another reason for delaying things until 2021 is a new crop of lawmakers.​

Inevitably there will be new lawmakers occupying offices at the Statehouse.

How many of them will be favorable to bringing universal background checks to Ohio is yet to be seen, and will be determined by voters in the same 2020 election the group is avoiding.​

Because they plan to deliver their petitions after the 2020 election, it will get to lawmakers at the beginning of the next General Assembly in January of 2021, right in time for new lawmakers to weigh in on the measure. ​

https://fox8.com/2019/12/13/effort-to-b ... o-delayed/

[qmti]

Yeah, they are hoping for more Democrats being elected like what happened in the US House back in 2016. And a anti-gunner in the White House who will help champion their cause.

[schmieg]

Yeah, they are hoping for more Democrats being elected like what happened in the US House back in 2016. And a anti-gunner in the White House who will help champion their cause.

They also figure that is a non-Congressional election year and fewer people will come out to vote.

[WhyNot]

Perhaps they see a segway into making law with alllll the recent ant-2A bills as proposed/supported/touted by the (R) governor and his creu ??