Ohio and "Common Sense"

The Ohio state legislature will soon vote to override the Governor's veto of House Bill 228, which would shift the burden of proof on self-defense cases involving firearms to prosecutors from defendants.

So if you defend yourself, you have to prove your innocence, rather than plea self-defense and expect the state to prove you were not acting in Self Defense.

Seems like a minor quibble, until you have to defend yourself twice: once against an assailant, a second time against the full power of the state of Ohio.

Pennsylvanians, take note -- these creeping so-called "common sense" statutes intentionally shift power from the individual to the state.

House Bill 228

Ohio Governor vetoes bill that would remove the "duty to retreat" in Ohio statutes

“If you think I’m going to sign a bill that gives more power to the gun folks, are you kidding me?” opined soon to be out-the-door Ohio Governor Kasich -- perpetual candidate for president (who never knew when it was time to bow out gracefully), and perpetual finger-in-the-wind RINO.

Should I stay or should I go...?

Often called "Stand your ground" by the misinformed, many states have rolled back to antiquated "duty to retreat" requirement for defensive actions. The reason the language needed to be removed is that every case the defender had to prove he/she exhausted every avenue of retreat (even those which he/she may not have been aware at the time of the incident).

Since defensive encounters rarely happen in three-side maze traps, self-defense claimants were in always legal jeopardy, even if he/she could prove that the other conditions that warrant self defense (threat proximity, ability, intent, immediacy) were satisfied.

So in Ohio, make sure you continue to check every possible egress route every time you move from here to there.

Brought to you by Those Who Really Care.*

*They care, just not about you.