COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Democrat who helped overturn local assault weapons bans as a state lawmaker and before being ousted as Ohio's attorney general said in a column published Sunday that he "was in the pocket of the National Rifle Association" to protect his political career and now regrets it.

Marc Dann used his blunt admission on Cleveland.com to urge elected officials to live by their principles as the country debates gun control following the Florida school shooting Feb. 14 that killed 17 people.

"The NRA's finely tuned propaganda operation, funded by the manufacturers of assault weapon...