TOLEDO (WTOL) - In the wake of mass shootings across our nation, Toledo’s mayor wants to use the free market to push for change from gun companies.
Starting in 2019, Toledo’s safety forces will only buy weapons and ammunition from “responsible” companies that meet certain criteria just put in place by Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
After the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Mayor Kapszukiewicz is taking local action. He believes it is too easy for a mentally ill or unstable person to obtain assault weapons, and he wants to push back against hate and violence. He is encouraging weapons companies to take responsibility for how and whom they sell guns to.
“Unfortunately, Congress just doesn’t seem interested in bringing about change, so we’ll have to do it ourselves at the local level and apply pressure in the good ole fashioned, capitalistic free market by trying to withhold our purchases from companies that we think are irresponsible,” said Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz.
Using his contract signing powers as mayor, Kapszukiewicz has issued an executive directive requiring all of the city’s weapons and ammunition suppliers to answer six questions before the city signs a contract with them.
The questions focus on whether the company allows civilian access to their assault weapons and whether the companies conduct background checks on their buyers. They are as follows:
- Do you manufacture assault weapons for civilian use?
- Do you sell assault weapons for civilian use?
- Which firearms does your company agree to not sell to civilians?
- Do you require your dealers to conduct background checks?
- Does your company have a plan in place to invest in gun and ammunition tracing technologies?
- Do you use, at a minimum, industry best practices for inventory control and transactions?
City leaders say this directive is not an indictment of the Second Amendment, but rather a push encouraging gun companies to make sure their weapons don't end up in the wrong hands. Toledo’s police chief says he doesn’t believe any of their current contracts will be affected. Yet if future suppliers don’t answer the questions appropriately, city leaders will take their business elsewhere.
"We buy our ammunition and firearms from companies that only sell to law enforcement. So I'm not anticipating any, but if we do than we do. It is what it is, and we'll look in a different direction,” said Toledo Police Chief George Kral.
Toledo Police buy their SIG pistols under state contract pricing from Vance’s Law Enforcement out of Columbus. They buy SIG parts directly from SIG SAUER, Inc, and ammunition from Kiesler Police Supply.
The city spends $150,000 annually on weapons and ammunition contracts. The mayor said he wants to use what financial muscle Toledo has to affect change, but he hopes that muscle will grow.
He is working with other mayors to get more cities involved in this push.