COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Outgoing Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich acted as expected Wednesday to veto a bill expanding gun-owner rights and, in a surprise move, also expanded a years-old anti-discrimination order to include gender identity.
Both moves were consistent with the prospective 2020 presidential candidate’s recent shift away from his party’s right wing toward policies that he characterizes as representing bipartisan common ground.
Among those are “red flag” laws allowing gun rights to be temporarily stripped from people who show warning signs of violence.
“Even the National Rifle Association is on record as supporting the concept of red flag laws,” his veto message said. “That the General Assembly has been unwilling to even debate the idea is baffling and unconscionable to me. This idea’s omission from this legislation is a shortcoming that I cannot accept.”
Kasich defended his record as pro-Second Amendment, noting that he’s signed or allowed to become law nine bills protecting gun rights.