Credit: Emanuel Wallace
Ohio Republicans are currently trying to pass House Bill 228, commonly known as the “Stand Your Ground” bill. The statewide legislation would make it easier to use lethal force in self-defense, and would prevent local governments from passing their own gun control laws. Meaning, even if Cleveland decided that the “Stand Your Ground” bill is incredibly problematic, the city would not have the ability to follow Cincinnati and Columbus in passing their own laws for their respective community.

HB 228 was introduced by Republican Reps. Terry Johnson and Sarah LaTourette. All of the co-sponsors of the bill are Republican as well.

Gov. John Kasich threatened to veto the legislation, as he is in favor of House Bill 585, a bill that includes banning bump stocks and armor-piercing ammunition as well as creating a “red flag” law, which would keep guns from people deemed as threats by a court of law. HB 585 would also require all gun purchases to be entered into a statewide law enforcement database, a policy Kasich has long since encouraged local agencies to enforce.

HB 228 was stalled back in March, as the last hearing on the matter occurred one day before the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Despite stalling, Senate President Larry Obhof said he thinks it could pass with a veto-proof majority.

This past April, Ohio legislators heard from Tess Stuber, a high school student speaking on behalf of March for Our Lives Ohio urging lawmakers to reject HB 228. In her testimony she stated that, “We are the future of this nation with the intent to protect ourselves in our communities.”

Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is also keeping a watchful eye on the progress of HB 228, noting on its site that the bill “modifies the Concealed Handgun Licensing Law by eliminating a licensee’s duty to keep the their hand in plain sight if impracticable, reducing the penalties for illegally carrying a concealed firearm or improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, and eliminating the requirement of posting warning signs regarding the possession of weapons on specified premises.”

Ohio’s House and Senate are quickly working to push bills through their chambers over the next two weeks before legislators take a summer break. Any bills that are not pushed through before the break will likely not pass until after the November election, when many of the congress members may be elected out of office.

Stuber’s testimony explains exactly why Republicans are so desperate to pass this bill before break.

“If you choose not to protect us, then we will vote for representatives that will,” she said. “We are the 4 million new voters in this nation, and we will vote for our lives.”

This article appears in May 9-15, 2018.

4 replies on “Ohio House Republicans Are Attempting to Pass a New ‘Stand Your Ground’ Bill”

  1. Gun rights are for those that are physically inferior but unfortunately they are so often used by those that are mentally inferior as well.

  2. So many things wrong with this article, lets look at them.

    “Ohio Republicans are currently trying to pass House Bill 228, commonly known as the “Stand Your Ground” bill. The statewide legislation would make it easier to use lethal force in self-defense..”

    Not true at all, it isn’t a stand your ground law. A duty to retreat exists and is very specifically in 228. To claim otherwise is a lie. Also the attacker must still have a deadly weaponand be in close proximity before you shoot. The only thing this does is shift the burden of proving self defense from the shooter to the prosecutor proving it was not self defense. You know that pesky ‘innocent until proven guilty’ thing that is the cornerstone of all our laws.

    “…and would prevent local governments from passing their own gun control laws.”

    That is already the Law (ORC 9.68) and for good reason. Cleveland is a good example of why this happened. If you got pulled over for speeding in Cleveland and had weapon and a valid CCW the police would take your gun, disassemble it and give it back to you with the warning that if you touched it after the stop they would arrest you. There were crazy laws all over the place, you couldn’t drive from Mentor to Strongsville without violating a bunch of laws. The local governments made this law a necessity, period.

    HB 585 is not instead of 228, it covers completely different issues. And most gun owners are in favor of it. It helps keeps guns out of the hands of the criminals. However, it really does not do much that isn’t already covered by other laws.

    Then there is this gem:

    “reducing the penalties for illegally carrying a concealed firearm or improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle”

    That is a flat out lie, illegally carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle is not changed, nor is improperly handling a firearm in a vehicle changed. They are still felonies, as they should be.

    This article is full of bad facts and lies. The author needs to do a bit of fact checking when the ACLU tells you something, or people that are pushing for gun control. They have a tendency to push the truth. So do the gun nuts, you need to watch what either of them say.

  3. You say that the bill shifts the burden to the prosecutor because you’re innocent until proven guilty. But you’re not innocent, we’re talking about someone who has admittedly killed someone so you start from the proposition that you’re guilty of homicide. The law as it stands requires you to justify your decision to take a life. Stand your ground says, well yeah you killed someone, now state prove that I was wrong to do so. When you kill someone you should have to justify it, the state shouldn’t have to prove you wrong.

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