Council: Owners of large gun magazines in Columbus have until July 1 to sell or move them
Columbus City Council passed legislation Monday that gives owners of gun magazines of 30 rounds or more until July 1 to move them out of the city, sell them to a licensed arms dealer outside Columbus, or turn them over to the city Division of Police.
The City Council also took action to make sure the city gets its share of income tax revenue from online sports betting in Ohio.
While new legislation, the ordinance passed Monday essentially amends the gun-control legislation that the City Council passed on Dec. 5 that effectively bans magazines of 30 rounds or more, as well as requires safe gun storage around children and criminalizes giving or selling firearms to anyone prohibited from owning them.
"The impetus for that is now that the city’s common-sense safety laws have been on the books for a few months, we’re requesting the drafted changes after seeing how the ordinances are and could be practically applied and enforced," Pete Shipley, a spokesman for Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, said to The Dispatch in an email.
If people hold on to their large magazines after July 1, they can still take them to police for disposal under the new legislation.
According to the Dec. 5 legislation, anyone possessing a magazine that can hold 30 or more rounds would be charged with a misdemeanor with a mandatory 180 consecutive days in jail without work release, with a potential sentence of up to one year, and a $1,500 fine.
On Jan. 20, a Fairfield County judge denied the state of Ohio's request for a preliminary injunction to block the city's gun restrictions.
As a result, those restrictions were set to go into place at midnight Jan. 21, according to Klein.
On Feb. 16, The Buckeye Institute, a conservative think-tank, filed suit in Delaware County Common Pleas Court challenging the Columbus gun restrictions. Part of Columbus sits in Delaware County.
David Tryon, The Buckeye Institute's director of litigation, had no comment on the legislation passed on Monday.
Tryon said the suit was filed in Delaware County, a more conservative county than heavily Democratic Franklin County, because it was the appropriate county for this type of legislation. Asked to expand on that, he said, "I'd like to leave it at that."
In other business, the council formally approved a $440,000 settlement payment for a case involving a Columbus police officer accused of using excessive force during an arrest for an unpaid traffic ticket in 2018.
During the federal trial in November 2022, lawyers for Cameryn Standifer, 27, had argued that Columbus police officer Brandon Harmon worsened Standifer's preexisting injuries from a car crash during an arrest over the outstanding traffic ticket. Standifer had been seeking reimbursement for medical bills that exceeded $1 million.
After he was released from jail, Standifer went to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center a few days later, where he was diagnosed with a MRSA infection and he was hospitalized for almost a month.
While jurors were deliberating during the November civil trial, the city reached a deal with Standifer and his lawyers.
Lara Baker-Morrish, chief counsel for the Columbus City Attorney's office, said that Standifer had initially asked for $2.5 million, then $1.75 million.
Councilman Nick Bankston said the incident is another example that more work needs to be done with Columbus police.
"When mistakes are made, it costs taxpayers money," he said.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Owners of large gun magazines in Columbus have until July to dump them
