Former Govs. Bob Taft and Ted Strickland said this week that they have contacted Gov. Mike DeWine’s office to show their support for recently announced gun legislation by DeWine, though Taft said that DeWine will have to expend political capital if he hopes to get it passed.

Taft and Strickland were interviewed by NBC4’s Colleen Marshall during the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s (CMC) annual meeting and summer celebration in Columbus Wednesday evening, giving their thoughts on their careers and the current political environment.

The meeting also included CMC's electing new members of its board, including Hannah News President Steve Marks as the chairman.

Both governors agreed it was time to take some action on gun legislation after the Dayton mass shooting, and supported improving the background check system and so called “red flag” legislation that will allow guns to be taken away from individuals who might pose an imminent threat to themselves or others.

Taft said that DeWine is going to have to influence a lot of Republicans to get legislation passed and is going to have to work for it.

“I wouldn’t call it arm twisting, it’s grassroots,” Taft said.

Strickland said DeWine may be in the same position that a lot of Republicans find themselves in when they take a step like he is trying to take. He noted that President Richard Nixon visited China, something Strickland said a Democrat could never do. But conservatives felt they could trust Nixon, giving him the freedom to make the visit. He said he believes DeWine is in a similar position to do something a Democratic governor could not do on this issue. He said he encourages Democrats to support the efforts as well.

Strickland said it is time to move away from a pro-gun versus anti-gun argument and look at what gun violence is doing to the country. He said when more people were dying in car accidents, the nation decided cars should be safer. Maybe it is time to think about guns in that way as well, he said, adding that there are steps that can be taken that will not threaten Second Amendment rights and will keep people safe.

A former member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Strickland also criticized the pro-gun group, saying the organization once promoted sportsmen, but now is more concerned about gun manufacturers than gun owners.

Both said they believe the political climate in Washington is extremely divisive, but they believe there is more bipartisanship going on at the local and state levels. Taft said the divisiveness in Congress is reflective of the country and is influenced by a divisive president and a narrow casting of news by media.

Strickland, who noted his former career as a psychologist, said he thought he knew something about human behavior, but the current political climate has him questioning his own prior assumptions. He said there is an anger and hostility prevalent throughout the country.

“There is a meanness and an intolerance that is harmful to our democracy,” Strickland said. “I think our democracy will survive, but we are going through a troubling period.”

Both governors said they don’t think President Donald Trump is totally responsible for the divisiveness and that it was there before his election, but Strickland said that he believes Trump has some responsibility having made it acceptable for some to express opinions and views they harbored that previously were not socially acceptable.

“I think Trump has revealed something about us, all of us, and what we believe is right, honorable and ethical,” Strickland said. “It is up to us to say we are better than this.”

Taft and Strickland also weighed in on their time as governor and what they would do differently. Strickland said that he is proud of the way he handled the state’s affairs through the Great Recession, saying he had to make a lot of tough decisions, but he felt he was as fair and balanced as he could possibly be.

Taft said he is proud of the rebuilding of schools, the Third Frontier Commission, the Clean Ohio Fund, and the tax reform package that was passed during his terms. He said he is especially proud of the Great Lakes Compact signed by the states, territories and Canadian provinces surrounding the lakes to prevent water diversion.

They both noted the differences in the way they viewed the job, with Taft saying he is a policy wonk and likes governing, but not the fundraising the job demands, while Strickland said he liked the politics because he found “people incredibly fascinating.”

On the opioid crisis, Strickland also praised DeWine’s efforts, including the commission that looked at treatment options that Strickland was asked to serve on. He said there is a lot that can be done on the problem, including enforcement, treatment, and education. Taft praised efforts to crack down on pill mills and doctor overprescribing, and said they need to continue research into areas such as safe painkillers to assist treatment. Any settlement money with opioid manufacturers should go towards treatment, he said.

Taft said he was shocked that House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) was elected to that position with as many Democratic votes as Republican, and said he hopes it bodes well for bipartisanship, though he said he doesn’t follow the Legislature enough to know if that spirit that elected Householder has continued. He said he doesn’t think it is healthy to have two persons running for a leadership position that go out and recruit their own candidates to run against each other. Strickland said he was not surprised at the way the speaker’s race played out, saying “deals were made,” but he said there is a serious problem with gerrymandering that has led to polarization nationwide.

Asked what they may have done differently, Taft said he regrets having to cut early childhood programs to deal with a minor recession in the early 2000s. He also said his administration and the Legislature was not as observant with the early development of charter schools as they should have been, but their attention was focused on the DeRolph school funding decision, public education, reading and academic standards that they didn’t have the quality control put in place that they should have for charters.

Strickland said he would have called for a moratorium on the death penalty and “let the chips fall where they may.”