Ohio Senate Passes Gun Bill Without Stand Your Ground Law

By Tom Knighton

As noted yesterday, Stand Your Ground laws are controversial, but they shouldn’t be. They don’t do anything except make it possible to defend yourself without having to look for a way to escape first.

Ohio State Senate Republicans said they were going to clarify the bill, trying to minimize the controversy.

Apparently, that statement wasn’t worth the electrons used to post it to the website.

Facing internal resistance to a stand-your-ground bill, Ohio Senate Republicans instead passed a stripped-down version of the controversial measure on Thursday that doesn’t change current state law’s duty to retreat or significantly reduce penalties for improperly carrying a concealed handgun.

House Bill 228 was amended Thursday and now focuses on shifting the burden of proof in self-defense cases to prosecutors. Supporters of the change say Ohio is the only state in the nation that requires defendants to prove by a preponderance of evidence — a lower standard than reasonable doubt — that they acted in self-defense.

“We listened to the testimony and tried to incorporate a lot of those items,” said Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester, chairman of the Government Oversight Committee. Republican Gov. John Kasich had said he would veto a stand-your-ground bill.

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Source:: Bearing Arms