Mayor John Cranley

City of Cincinnati

 

 

Of?ce of Mayor John Cranley 801 Plum Street, Suite 150
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Phone (513) 352-3250
Fax (513) 352?5201
Email: gov

August 5, 2019

The Honorable Mike DeWine
Governor, State of Ohio

Riffe Center

77 High St., 30th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

Dear Goverane:

It is with a heavy heart that write'to you today in the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting in Dayton
and less than a year after Cincinnati?s own mass shooting at Fountain Square. I remain grateful to the
first responders in both of our cities for their heroism and quick action to prevent what could have been
even greater losses of life. I was in contact with Mayor Whaley to offer support throughout yesterday as
she handled the tragedy with professionalism and grace, and know she appreciated your presence in
its wake. I am heartened to see your comments that "everything is on the table? when it comes to
combatting gun violence in Ohio. lam offering today to work hand in hand with you on crucial policies
and laws that we need to pass in the State to ensure that real change happens.

I was encouraged by your comments earlier this year in support of extreme risk protection orders
(ERPOs), commonly known as red flag laws. ERPOs allow family members and/or law enforcement to ask
a judge to temporarily remove firearms from a person who is at an elevated risk of hurting themselves
or others. When a person is in crisis and considering harming themselves or others, family members and
law enforcement are often the first people to see the warning signs. ERPOs are designed to defuse these
dangerous situations while also providing due process and a system of checks and balances through the
judicial system. Further, ERPOs have also been proven to prevent homicides and suicides. This is a
commonsense approach that has already implemented in seventeen states, including Indiana and we
should pass laws to implement ERPOs in Ohio. I plan to lead a contingency of Mayors and Police Chiefs,
along with Whitney Austin, one of Cincinnati?s mass shooting survivors, to the statehouse in September
to advocate for these laws and I hope you will join us in our efforts.

It is also disturbing to me that the murderer in Dayton was able to obtain a high-powered assault rifle
that killed and injured so many people in a matter of seconds. Thank God for the Dayton Police
Department?s presence and quick action to eliminate the shooter or the casualties would have been far
greater. There is absolutely no reason that anyone outside of the military or law enforcement should be
allowed to own that type of weapon or to be able to purchase the types of tools to modify regular guns

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into weapons of mass destruction. I encourage you to work on banning assault weapons and those type
of modification tools in Ohio.

Lastly, I have the honor to serve as the Chair of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force of the US
Conference of Mayors. Recently, this task force met in Toledo where we discussed ways that mayors
and other government leaders can encourage responsible gun behavior. One of the ways that we have
decided to achieve this is to form a Smart Gun Buying Consortium with mayors from across the country.
Government buys 40 percent of the guns in the US. but has not made full use of this market leverage to
push the gun industry to improve its products and practices. Big gun companies and the NRA have
resisted developing smart gun technology, so we intend to work with startups to do it ourselves. Our
consortium will collectively purchase smart gun technology, such as gun locks that unlock with a
fingerprint, and will have our police officers test these products to give the companies feedback to
improve the products that are available to us. We will continue to do so in order to encourage increased
development of better and more reliable smart gun products that can be used so that eventually kids
cannot get their parents' weapons, so that thieves cannot use a stolen gun, or a gun cannot be turned
against its owner. This is especially important because, in the past, Cincinnati has had officers murdered
with their own weapons. lam certain that the State of Ohio spends a lot of money purchasing firearms
and related products. I invite you to join our consortium.

As elected officials and leaders in our communities we cannot afford to sit on idly on the sidelines when
it comes to preventing gun violence. am proud to take on these efforts and I hope that we can stand
together for these policy changes in Ohio.

Best,

  

City of Cincinnati