The lame-duck session of a legislature is often an opportunity for lawmakers on their way out to push through legislation that will cement their legacy. It’s also a time when lawmakers can pass bills that might not be overly popular with the public. After all, the election results are in and they’ve got a couple of years to overcome any ill will from the bill’s passage.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine wants lawmakers to use the lame-duck session to pass his gun control agenda.

Gov. Mike DeWine is calling on his fellow Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly to pass what he sees as “common sense” gun regulations. But lawmakers, who have so far ignored DeWine’s proposals, have even less time to act as the clock winds down on the current legislative session.

DeWine’s “STRONG Ohio” gun regulations bill does several things. During his frequent COVID-19 press conferences, DeWine has focused on the provisions that strengthen penalties against violent offenders caught with a firearm, which he says results in many of the gun deaths that make headlines.

“That gets my temper up. And I talk about it at different press conferences. But look, the entire bill I would like to see passed,” DeWine said.

While tougher penalties for violent offenders found with guns are fairly non-controversial, the rest of DeWine’s proposals are. They include a red flag law and creates a background check for individuals selling their own guns.

DeWine has been beating this drum for a while, yet there have been no takers. No one in Ohio is up on this bill and that even includes the gun grabbers. For them, the STRONG Ohio bill doesn’t go far enough. While DeWine may believe he has the best of both worlds, the fact that no one has tried to pass the bill shows you just how little people are moved on this measure.

What DeWine created was an attempt to create gun control that was as inoffensive as possible while still counting as gun control. In the process, he managed to piss everyone off. So…good job on that one.

The truth of the matter is that over and over again throughout history, the gun crowd rolled with whatever the public wanted, trying desperately to appear as though they were willing to work with the other side. And yet, what we see are bills like STRONG Ohio that aren’t giving us a damn thing, they just don’t try to take quite as much.

Unfortunately, that’s what counts as “compromise” in the gun debate, and it’s why those of us on this side of the debate absolutely refuse to budge on anything anymore. We’ve had so much taken in the past and nothing has been offered in exchange. It’s not like someone is proposing red flag laws and are willing to offer up suppressors on the open market in exchange, for example. At least then we can debate whether or not the needle of liberty is moving the right way or not if we accept the proposal.

Nope, that’s not even up for discussion. We’re just supposed to take more and more encroachment into our basic civil liberties.

I don’t think DeWine means ill. I suspect he’s just trying to straddle the canyon on this. However, he would do well to listen and understand that our rights aren’t up for negotiation.

And yeah, as much as I dislike this phrase in general, when it comes to guns, you’re either with us or against us.