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Scott Wiggam| Guest columnist

Ohio has a chance to put an end to corporate entities benefitting from taxpayer-funded contracts while at the same time using that money to deny Ohioans their Second Amendment rights.

It is time for Ohio to enact the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act.

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House Bill 297would deny corporations the ability to benefit from taxpayer-funded state or municipal contracts while at the same time holding policies that discriminate against firearm-related businesses.

This legislation wouldnt dictate that corporations cant hold antigun policies. It would simply say those corporations wouldnt be able to profit from state and local municipal contracts and then turn around and spend that money to deny law-abiding citizens their constitutionally protected God-given rights.

It is wrong that taxpayer dollars help to fund those working against their rights.

It is time for Ohio to take a stand.

This proposal wont be without opposition. Big banks especially will howl.

They will point out the billions of dollars they hold in municipal bonds for everything from transaction services with state agencies to projects to build roads and bridges. They will tell lawmakers that this is impossible, that theyre too big to stand up to.

Thats because they have forgotten that it was the taxpayers including Ohios taxpayers that paid the $700 billion bailout in 2008. Now those same banks, including Bank of American and Citigroup, get rich while they impose restrictions on gun companies and fund gun control groups. Those corporate banks are eating away Americas fundamental rights through woke boardroom corporate activism.

Ohio can stand up to these bank bullies. Our lawmakers already have a blueprint to do it too. In 2016 many states, including Ohio, passed nearly identical measures requiring that state contracts not be granted to companies that boycott Israel.

Earlier this Summer, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott signed the Texas FIND Act. Big banks railed against the proposal, but Texas lawmakers stood strong against corporate special interests and extreme gun control groups that have gotten fat off of taxpayer-funded contracts. They said enough was enough.

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Texass law doesnt force the state to end contracts with corporations. It simply requires corporation that seek to do business with the state and local municipalities to certify that they hold no policies discriminating against firearms or ammunition and wont hold those policies while the state contracts are in force.

Corporations that have contracts can continue to compete for them. They just have stop unfairly discriminating against an industry that provides the means for Second Amendment rights.

If those banks and other corporations that provide services to the states dont want to abandon their discriminatory policies, there will be new business opportunities for local entities. Big banks threatened Texas lawmakers that no one could handle the billions in assets they provide to the states.

They forgot about the little guys the state and regional banks. The Independent Bankers Association of Texas said the law wasnt an obstacle, but a business opportunity. Corporations unwilling to abandon their campaign of imposing woke policies could easily be supplanted by local businesses. That keeps taxpayer money flowing to local businesses. For Ohio, that would mean Ohio tax dollars benefit Ohio businesses and dont get carried off to fill fat cat wallets on Wall Street.

Thats not just smart policy. Thats smart business.

In Ohio, over 12,000 jobs are tied to the firearm and ammunition industry. Those jobs pay over a half a billion dollars in annual wages and generate $1.7 billion in economic activity. These businesses paid $202 million in federal and state taxes and an additional $32.7 million in excise taxes that benefits wildlife conservation, including right here in Ohio.

Yet these businesses are targeted by woke corporations because they despise what they represent. They provide firearms that law-abiding gun owners use every day. Firearm-related businesses are especially in the crosshairs of these discriminating corporations because they provide the means to gun owners to exercise their Second Amendment right to lawfully use firearms for recreational shooting, hunting, and self-defense.

Ohio needs its own FIND Act. Ohios lawmakers must make this a priority. Bring Ohio values to the Buckeye State and stop importing woke corporate activism that denies our states citizens their rights.

Scott Wiggam is the State Representative for the 1st Ohio House District, which encompasses all of Wayne County.

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Ohio must stand against companies that deny 'constitutionally protected God-given rights' to firearms - The Columbus Dispatch