Ohio Violent Career Criminal Act

Jim Hughes and Frank LaRose yesterday introduced the Violent Career Criminal Act in the Ohio Senate which seeks to:

• to double the mandatory prison term for an offender who is convicted of a firearm specification and previously has been convicted of a firearm specification;

• to similarly double the period of authorized or mandatory commitment to the Department of Youth Services of a delinquent child who is guilty of a firearm specification and previously has been adjudicated a delinquent child for committing an act that would constitute a violation of a firearm specification if committed by an adult; and

• to prohibit violent career criminals from knowingly acquiring, having, carrying, or using any firearm or dangerous ordnance; and to require a mandatory prison term for a violent career criminal convicted of committing a violent felony offense while armed with a firearm.

The bill was referred to the Criminal Justice Committee for consideration. [Text of Bill ]

The Columbus Dispatch earlier previewed the bill by saying “repeat violent offenders caught with a gun would spend a minimum of 11 years in prison under the new bill that aims to target career criminals.”

The Dispatch article related, too, that “Calling the crackdown on gun offenders a ‘moral imperative,’ Attorney General Mike DeWine said the proposal was a result of a violent gun-crime task force he created in 2011, that found that 1 percent of Ohio’s adult prison population since 1974 is responsible for 57 percent of the state’s violent felony convictions.” [Attorney General's press release]

[ Final Report of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Violent Crimes with Guns Advisory Task Group, April 9, 2012 ]