The first bill to be proposed by new state Rep. Mike Loychik is to make Ohio a Second Amendment sanctuary state.

Loychik, R-Bazetta, will formally introduce the bill later this week.

The legislation affirms the power of state rights over the federal government under the 10th Amendment and supports the notion that the General Assembly strongly promotes responsible gun ownership and use, enforcement, prompt reporting, storage and condemnation of unlawful activity of firearms, Loychik said.

“Members of the Ohio General Assembly and the U.S. Congress have a duty to uphold the rights of citizens around this country,” he said. “This includes the freedoms granted to us under the Second Amendment of our Constitution. This bill ensures prioritizing the protection of law-abiding Ohioans’ right to keep and bear arms.”

Loychik began a two-year term in the House representing the 63rd District earlier this month.

Only four states have adopted Second Amendment sanctuary policies. They are: Alaska, Idaho, Kansas and Wyoming. Alaska and Wyoming approved it in 2010, Kansas in 2013 and Idaho in 2014 — all when Democrat Barack Obama was president.

A few counties in Ohio have approved nonbinding symbolic sanctuary declarations.

Loychik said his legislation would make federal laws or authority that attempt to infringe on Second Amendment rights invalid. The proposal also would affirm that it is the duty of courts and law enforcement agencies to protect Second Amendment rights.

“Especially with the current climate and rhetoric at the federal level, the preservation of our Second Amendment is now more crucial than ever before, and it is my intent to protect this right for the people of Trumbull County and throughout the state of Ohio,” Loychik said.

Loychik’s proposal considers various federal laws or executive orders infringements on “law-abiding” Ohioans’ right to bear arms.

That includes: any taxes imposed on firearms, firearm accessories and / or ammunition that aren’t common to other goods and services, the registration or tracking of those items, any act forbidding the possession or transfer of them and the confiscation of them, he said.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com