A bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Loychik, to prohibit local and state law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm laws or regulations is expected to get a vote in the Ohio House in December.

Called the Second Amendment Preservation Act, the bill recently was approved along political party lines in the House Government Oversight Committee with Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, saying he wants to get a full House vote before the year ends.

The bill adds protections for “law-abiding citizens” to the right to bear arms and affirms the power of state rights over the federal government under the 10th Amendment.

The bill is opposed by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, Ohio Mayors Alliance, the Ohio Municipal League and gun control supporters. It has support from Ohio Gun Owners, a self-described “no-compromise gun rights organization,” and other gun rights backers.

Loychik, R-Bazetta, sponsored the bill with state Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland.

In a prepared statement, Loychik said: “This Second Amendment Preservation Act protects one of our most fundamental rights as citizens. This bill allows Ohio’s law enforcement to carry out Ohio’s laws when it comes to owning guns, ammunition and accessories. If any of these protections are violated, the bill permits an Ohioan to take action against agencies who have violated the SAPA Act.”

The legislation eliminates references to the United States Code related to gun laws in Ohio to ensure that the Ohio gun law is the standard for those who reside in the state.

The bill bans any local or state employee from violating the act. If that occurs, the employer would be required to fire him or her. Public entities that knowingly employ violators would face civil penalties of $50,000 per employee.

If the bill is approved by the Republican-controlled House, it still needs a vote of support by the state Senate, which also has a Republican supermajority, and then signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican.

Some question whether the bill, if approved, can be enforced.

Courts in Missouri and Oregon overturned similar laws earlier this year. The U.S. Supreme Court in October declined an emergency request by Missouri to reinstate its law after a federal judge struck it down and a circuit court refused to stay the judge’s decision. The federal judge in Missouri ruled the state law violated the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, which states federal law generally takes precedence over state laws.

Loychik said his bill is not a supremacy clause violation.

“It simply states that the state of Ohio will not help (the) federal government enforce their gun-control agenda,” he said.

Kerry McCarthy, executive director of the Ohio Mayors Alliance, said his organization “strongly oppose this legislation because it will make solving violent gun crimes exceptionally harder for our law enforcement professionals. This bill is also an unconstitutional preemption of cities’ home rule authority under the Ohio Constitution and appears to violate the U.S. Constitution as well.”

Loychik was a lead sponsor of a similar bill in the last legislative session. The bill received three hearings in the House State and Local Government Committee without a vote.

But the latest bill was approved 7-4 by the House Government Oversight Committee with all Republican members voting for it and all Democrats opposing it.

Chris Dorr, director of Ohio Gun Owners, said the bill is “designed to protect those officers (who are members of his organization) by preventing them from ever being forced to choose between enforcing tyrannical federal laws, rules or executive orders like the ATF’s pistol brace ban that is now in effect or sticking to their convictions and losing their jobs.”

Louis Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said the bill “lacks clear statutory guidance to us and to law enforcement about what we can and cannot do. Because of this, the bill will still negatively impact law enforcement’s ability to work cooperatively with federal law enforcement partners to address gun violence and gun crimes and to promote the public’s safety.”

The $50,000 civil penalties, he said, “will prevent cross designation of prosecutors as assistant U.S. attorneys. For law enforcement, it will prevent cross designations to serve on federal task forces. It continues to present problems for our ability to hire former federal agents and employees.”

Heinz von Eckartsberg, lead consultant for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, said “there are several sections in particular in this legislation that are most problematic for our membership.”

The bill, he said, would prohibit law enforcement in Ohio from utilizing national forensic networks for certain gun crimes and not permit local and state law enforcement to participate in inter-jurisdictional task forces related to firearms or ammunition.

Von Eckartsberg said: “This would seriously hamper the effectiveness of our cooperation with federal law enforcement and other states and local agencies by prohibiting these task forces from ever focusing an investigation on weapons violations.”

He added that the police chiefs “are strongly opposed to the unnecessary roadblocks this bill creates for law enforcement in our efforts to” keep “Ohioans safe and reducing and solving crime.”

In his sponsorship testimony earlier this year, Loychik said: “This bill is pro-cop and I’m talking about the cops out there on patrol every day. To a person, every police officer I’ve talked to in the last two years has expressed their opposition to ever being forced to become (President) Joe Biden’s enforcement brigade against Ohioans and this bill protects those from ever having to make that decision whether to violate their oath of office to the Ohio Constitution or feeding their families by removing it entirely.”