COLUMBUS, Ohio - A proposal aimed at reducing gun crime would ban any person under 21 from having a firearm. But the piece of legislation, which is only in its initial stages, is already causing controversy and drawing fierce opposition.

When a 12-year-old girl was fatally shot in a Cleveland street last month, the city's mayor vowed to make it a crime for anyone under 21 to posses a gun, 10TV's Kevin Landers reported.

In Ohio it is already against the law to own a handgun if you are under 21, but a new piece of legislation would add the word possession to the books. Opponents argue that changing the vocabulary will ultimately change nothing about the law.

Critics of the proposal argue that probable cause already allows police to stop people suspected of illegally carrying a gun.

"The conduct they are talking about is already illegal under existing laws," said Ken Hanson with the Buckeye Firearms Association.

What concerns gun supporters like Hanson the most is that the legislation could leave some responsible gun owners defenseless, Landers reported.

Last year an 18-year-old clerk at a Columbus carryout shot and killed one of two people who tried to rob his family's store. Opponents claim that under the proposed bill, the clerk would have broken the law.

Those in favor of the bill claim that loopholes in the current laws have been exposed and need fixed.

"There is a loophole in the current law," said Rep. Michael DeBose, (D) 12th District. "That law says anyone who is over 18-years-old can carry a weapon."

DeBose, who is co-sponsor of the proposed bill, was once an opponent of concealed carry.

"I was robbed two months ago," he said. 

Since then DeBose admits he carries a gun, but said young people are using the concealed carry laws to carry guns without police questioning them, Landers reported.

"This law would give police the legal authority to stop and question them," DeBose said, "to stop them from carrying a weapon openly."

Backers of the proposed law admit it has less than a 50 percent chance of passing because of opposition, Landers reported.

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