Will Ohio Soon Become a Stand-Your-Ground State?
Ohio is a state chock full of gun-owners but unfortunately, it is on the poorer end of rights for said owners. It is currently on the defender of a gun battle to attempt to retreat from the ordeal rather than defend their own life in case of horrible criminal catastrophe.
However, there are currently two bills working their way through the state legislature that could change all of that and finally make Ohio a proper “Stand-Your-Ground” state. Let’s take a look at these bills.
SENATE BILL 180
The first of these two pieces is Senate Bill 180, co-sponsored by Senators Joe Uecker and Jay Hottinger. This bill will fix the burden of proof that is currently forced upon all defensive shooters in Ohio, making it so that you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your shooting was both a last-ditch effort that you could not avoid AND that your life was in danger in doing so.
Now it makes sense that that proof should come out in the police investigation of an incident, but what if your attacker escaped injured and told a different story, what if your attacker passed away and it was your word and your word alone against a dead person? You can see where the issues come into play.
But with Senate Bill 180 these issues would turn to the way they are enforced in other states making citizens able to adequately defend themselves without being forced to make a choice between potential jail time and saving themselves and their families lives.
HOUSE BILL 228
House Bill 228 can be considered a contingency to Senate Bill 180. There has not been as much hype behind this bill but it states nearly the same thing as SB 180. It pushes to rid Ohio of its archaic duty-to-retreat laws and also makes it so major cities will have a tougher time trying to pass gun control in the future.
“We are allotted more freedoms if this should this pass,” said a Cincinnati gun store/shooting range owner, Jon Villing.
So between these two bills maybe we will see some real positive change for law-abiding gun owners arrive in Ohio, but even then it would have to go past the desk of Gov. John Kasich and due to his stances it is unknown if his signature will even be written.
