Sponsor Testimony
Presented by: Senator Charleta B. Tavares
Senate Bill 103
State and Local Government Committee
Senator Bill Coley, Chair
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Chairman Coley, Ranking Member Yuko and members of the
Government Oversight and Reform Committee; we appreciate you
scheduling Senate Bill 103 for sponsor testimony. SB 103 will
permit townships that have adopted limited home rule government
to adopt resolutions that regulate the discharge of firearms based
on the population of the township and the density of the population
in areas within the township.
This legislation grants townships permissive authority to
create districts having high density. A resolution may be adopted
prohibiting any person from knowingly discharging a firearm
within one of these high density districts created.
Ohio’s landscape is changing and the rural areas are fast
becoming the center of the population shift in Ohio. Thirty-five
percent of Ohioans live in the unincorporated areas and the 2010
Census shows a rise in township population from just thirty years
ago.
Ohio has approximately twenty-five townships that have
populations above 25,000 people in the unincorporated area and
sixty
townships
with
populations
above
10,000
in
the
unincorporated area.
This legislation only permits limited home rule townships
(pursuant to RC Chapter 504) to address the discharge of a firearm.
There are only 31 limited home rule townships in Ohio. The
ability to adopt limited home rule has been in place for almost 30
years.
The Ohio Township Association, specifically township
governments, has never taken the position of limiting the right of
an individual to bear arms or exercise the right to discharge a
firearm. However, as you can see, townships are not just the rural
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areas of vacant or farm lands as they once were. Many larger
townships have zoning regulations that permit up to two homes per
acre of land thus creating major safety concerns when a firearm is
discharged. Our safety concerns are built upon the increase in
population and congestion coming to the unincorporated areas.
Municipalities may pass firearm restrictions based upon population
and density and township residents should be afforded the same
protection.
Senate Bill 103 grants permissive authority to limited home
rule townships and is a measured and reasonable response to the
public safety issue at hand. SB 103 would put townships on equal
footing as municipalities with language that would permit the
adoption of firearm discharge regulations based upon population
and density within the township.
Chairman Coley and members of the Committee, we
appreciate your attention to this issue and I respectfully request
your favorable consideration and passage of Senate Bill 103.
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Thank you and we are happy to respond to questions from the
committee.
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