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Mass shooting survivor makes plea to Ohio lawmakers

Whitney Austin, who was shot 12 times on her way to work at Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati in 2018, testified in support of SB 357.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Whitney Austin says she still has good days and bad days. But she calls herself a miracle. After all, she survived being shot 12 times.

It happened on Sept. 16, 2018. Austin was on her way to work at Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, when she quite literally walked into a mass shooting.

“I’ll never forget being stuck in that revolving door and taking the barrage of gunfire and just praying to God that I would survive, that I would get back home to my little children and my husband,” she said. “And miraculously, I did.”

While Austin would survive that day, three others would not. It was, of course, a life-changing experience. And Austin decided to devote her life to helping prevent gun violence. She created the organization Whitney/Strong.

“It’s really hard being in this country in which mass shootings are increasing and knowing that we have the tools to make a difference, but yet, we haven’t really implemented them,” she said.

Roughly one year after her shooting, she shared her story at the rollout of the STRONG Ohio legislative proposal. That came in the wake of the Dayton mass shooting that killed nine people. But while the rollout was met with much fanfare, the legislation essentially went nowhere.

“It was really hard,” Austin said. “I mean, I’ve had a lot of really difficult moments in this fight as we worked to bring people in, to bring them into the work. But nothing will ever be as difficult as what happened on Sept. 6, so I just pick myself up and go again.”

She got a huge boost of hope this past summer with the passage of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major federal gun reform legislation in decades. Now she’s a supporter of Senate Bill 357, which would focus on preventing those deemed at risk to themselves or others from purchasing weapons. The legislation would call for behavioral health assessments. Those deemed a risk would be barred from buying future weapons but would not have current weapons removed.

Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, is the sponsor.

“If we can isolate that behavior, then my bill is simply saying, let’s make sure that person doesn’t get a gun,” Dolan said. “I mean, it’s pretty simple. We don’t want suicidal, homicidal people to have access to firearms.”

Dolan originally introduced the legislation back in August. Since then, the proposed red flag provision has been dropped. Dolan said that was a good thing, adding that those provisions would not identify the right people and pointing out that not every mentally ill person has violent tendencies.

“The goal is to get them help,” he said. “If they’re still a threat, we want to put them on a legal disability, just like in Ohio we have now. If you’re an alcoholic, if you’re a drug user, if you’re a felon, you can’t buy a gun. Doesn’t it make sense that, if you are a threat, if you’re a suicidal or homicidal threat, until that is gone, you shouldn’t have access to firearms.”

10TV asked Gov. Mike DeWine for his thoughts on the bill. In the time since STRONG Ohio failed, the governor has signed legislation to enact a so-called “stand your ground” law, an open carry law and a law that allows school staffers to have weapons in schools.

“There are a small number of violent, repeat offenders who are out there who, frankly, we just have to lock up and get out of society,” Gov. DeWine said. “If we’re going to stop these horrible tragedies in Columbus and across the state where you see a 9-year-old or a 10-year-old who gets shot by someone who has no business having a gun, they’ve already been told that they cannot have a gun because they’ve been convicted of a violent offense, we need to throw the book at them, and that’s what the bill will do.”

At the statehouse on Tuesday, that bill had its second hearing, with a focus on hearing from proponents of the bill. Whitney Austin was the only one who spoke, but Sen. Dolan indicated there also was written testimony submitted.

“One day, one day it will work,” she said. “And we will see legislation passed, and I say that because I’ve already witnessed it – bipartisan work, in June of 2022, with the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, seeing Republicans and Democrats come together on common ground solutions that can keep us safe. We already have proof that this can happen. Now we need to see it in Columbus and in statehouses across America.”

The legislation is still in its early stages. Lawmakers also plan to hear from opponents and other interested parties.

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