Despite opposition from police chiefs and county prosecutors organizations, a bill sponsored by state Rep. Mike Loychik to prohibit local and state law enforcement from enforcing federal firearms laws or regulations looked like it was going to pass the Ohio House this month.

That was the consensus a few weeks ago. But things have significantly changed since then, and the bill finds itself in limbo largely because some of Loychik’s fellow Republicans have concerns about it.

Called the Second Amendment Preservation Act, the bill was approved Nov. 15 along party lines by the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee with Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, saying he wanted 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 federal government under the 10th Amendment.

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

Enough Republicans, who make up a supermajority in the House, are echoing testimony given by officials with the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police and the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association about civil liability provisions.

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.

The $50,000 penalty also would apply to local and state law enforcement and prosecutors working with federal agencies – and that’s the biggest concern.

The bill may eventually pass the House even with that provision, but it’s currently holding up a vote, as not enough Republicans back it to bring it to the floor.

Chris Dorr, director of Ohio Gun Owners, which strongly backs the bill, is vocally criticizing key Republican legislators who have issues with the provision.

In a lengthy video posted Wednesday — the day the bill was supposed to get a vote and the last House session of the year — to social media, Dorr labeled Republican opponents as the “Ohio Gun Control Gaggle,” and said “they were able to stand up and derail the bill in the House Republican Caucus meeting. He said the Republican opponents “stabbed gun owners in the back.”

Stephens recently said his members support the bill in concept, but the language, which has already been amended, likely needs further changes.

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 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 the bill “would severely 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.”

Dorr called the groups “politicized law enforcement organizations that are pretending to represent law enforcement.”

In his sponsorship testimony earlier this year, Loychik, R-Bazetta, 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.”

Courts in Missouri and Oregon overturned similar laws this year. A federal judge in Missouri ruled that state’s 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.