CLEVELAND — Ohio Democrats on Thursday introduced new legislation meant to tackle gun violence in the state.
The bills were unveiled at the first-ever Gun Violence Prevention Summit at the Statehouse. The measures seek to declare gun violence a public health crisis, prevent known domestic abusers from having firearms, and call for "commonsense concealed carry," universal background checks. and creating an Ohio task force on gun violence.
A day after the summit, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director Steve Dettelbach spoke at the City Club of Cleveland. A native of the city and former U.S. attorney, he sat down with 3News' Russ Mitchell after the event, and was asked about his own support for gun control measures and if any common ground can be found on the divisive issue.
"There are glimmers of hope that we can come to some agreement on progress, Dettelbach answered, pointing to the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act less that two years ago. "We've prosecuted over 300 defendants now for straw purchasing and firearms trafficking crimes using those new tools alone in the Safer Communities Act. We have gotten lots of money to communities all over the country to try and do everything from help[ing] people with mental illnesses to interrupt[ing] shooting cycles to try[ing to] implement red flag laws."
ATF is one of the smaller federal government agencies, and even went without a full-time director from 2006 until Dettelbach's confirmation in 2022. Dettelbach admitted he would prefer more than his current stable of roughly 2,400 agents, but for now expresses the importance of working with local law enforcement groups to do the job.
"[The] New York City Police Department has 36,000 for that one city; I just have over 30 there to deal with gun violence in New York," he noted. "And so that's one of the reasons why our model has to be to leverage those partnerships so that we not only bring more bodies, but more ideas and expertise to try to attack."
Dettlebach's visit also comes just days after a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade killed one person and injured more than 20, including several children. Dettelbach told Mitchell he has spoken to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, and pledged his bureau's support for both the city as well as other communities who are now uneasy about hosting big events.
"There are 5,000 employees and 2,500 agents who are risking their lives every day. ATF agents respond to almost every mass shooting that there is," he said. "We are there and sacrificing, and the men and women of ATF will continue to be there in harm's way to try to protect people."
You can watch Dettelbach's full conversation with Mitchell in the player below: