Local gun shop owner discusses potential gun restriction laws

MORAINE — Local community members are expressing their views on the push for new gun restrictions.

Two recent shooting sprees in Atlanta and Colorado are prompting some to call for Congress and President Biden to support the push for such restrictions.

Biden authored a bill as a senator that outlawed the sale of assault rifles for 10 years.

A local gun shop owner believes talk of banning more weapons could add fuel to the fire.

“If people are hell-bent on killing someone, they’ll find ways to do it,” said Jeff Pedro, owner of SimTrainer shooting range in Moraine.

Pedro also noted that he has never found any reports of someone committing a crime with a weapon made by a 3D printer, something Biden is working to ban.

“We’re looking at what kind of authority I have relative to imported weapons as well as if I have the authority to ban weapons made with 3D printers that aren’t registered as guns at all,” Biden said.

Pedro, a former police officer, said he believes most of the gun control discussions miss solutions with a rush to do “something.”

“Get your head together, talk to people and determine what it is that we think we can do to make the situation better than just ‘something,’ I don’t care what it is.”

Pedro also said universal background checks are something that a lot of people push, but Ohio already has this. He noted that the accused Colorado shooter, Ahmad Alissa, passed a background check just days before the incident.

“Ninety-three percent of the crime guns are obtained illegally, it’s not like they’re going and passing background checks and committing acts,” Pedro said.

He also pointed out that proposed bans on high-powered rifles may not accomplish added safety, noting that 250 to 350 deaths a year are blamed on those weapons according to the FBI.

“That’s tragic, let’s say 250 people a year are killed with AR-15 rifles, that’s quarter of a year in Chicago last year.”

Pedro said he would strengthen enforcement of current laws designed to keep guns out of convicted criminals hands, like straw purchase laws, then focus on better communications about potential mental health issues.

Cox Media Group