COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Senate Republicans passed a bill that would penalize local governments for enacting gun safety regulations.
Children continue accessing guns, with dangerous situations becoming tragedies. We've reported on dozens of cases where kids have been killed or injured by accidental shootings.
A second grader brought a loaded handgun to school in Kent, with the police report showing that the "8-year-old student had easy access to the firearm at home."
Luckily, no one was hurt, but his mother was arrested and charged with child endangerment.
A few days later, police found another gun on a Maple Heights elementary school student.
Some cities say there should be harsher penalties for kids getting access to guns, but the state has just put forward another bill to punish their efforts.
This has been an ongoing fight that we've been covering for years.
"Let us do our jobs; what we know we need to do to keep our cities safe," Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said back in 2023, when teens shot and killed another.
Both the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati have been trying to keep guns locked away from children. Each is currently defending their local ordinances in court, ones that require owners to lock their firearms.
"Unfortunately, every time we try to enact meaningful and reasonable, in my view, gun reform -- the state legislature has preempted us," Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said in 2025.
Senate Republicans just passed S.B. 278, which further restricts a city or township's ability to pass local laws.
"What this is meant to protect is an individual who is exercising their Second Amendment rights lawfully from having to stand up and go to court to enforce their Second Amendment rights against an overzealous municipality who has passed a law against the United States and the Ohio Constitution," Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said.
McColley said that local governments should not be passing firearm regulations that are stricter than state law.
"There is currently nothing preventing these municipalities from continually running this gauntlet and restricting the right of our citizens," state Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) said.
S.B. 278 allows anyone to sue municipalities that have gun safety laws. It also lets judges fine cities, award money to plaintiffs and require cities to pay all legal fees.
"Offering more avenues for damages allows for a stronger deterrent," McColley said. "Hopefully, these municipalities will begin complying with the law."
Republicans have previously encouraged safe storage to prevent deaths, but say a requirement is unconstitutional.
"What happened to home rule?" Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) asked. "Does it still exist in Ohio?"
Democrats like Antonio argue that this bill prevents cities from doing what's best for their communities.
"I don't think that people's Second Amendment rights in the state of Ohio are under any kind of risk that this bill will help with," she said. "I think it was another case of a solution looking for a problem."
Cleveland has largely stayed out of the city versus state gun debate, but its spokesperson, Tyler Sinclair, said that this bill is unconstitutional.
"The City, along with other bipartisan organizations, strongly opposes this legislation -- which would expose municipalities to punitive damages for local efforts to address gun violence," Sinclair said. "This bill also appears to be unconstitutional, directly conflicting with the Ohio Constitution's home rule provisions -- which affirms the right of municipalities to exercise local police power."
While he didn't address whether Cleveland would sue, Columbus, unsurprisingly, fought back.
"The fact is that home rule is a constitutionally protected right in Ohio, and we remain committed to fighting back against any attempt to roll back that right," Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said. "The City is also committed not only to enforcing gun laws already on the books,but also enacting commonsense regulations that most Ohioans support,l ike safe storage requirements. This,together with investing in people,police,prosecutors and having lawmakers at every level of government find the political will to join us in changing our gun laws,w ill further drive down crime and save lives of residents and children."