Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a “stand your ground” bill into law on Monday that eliminates a person’s duty to retreat when acting in self-defense during a life-threatening situation.
Gov. DeWine, a Republican, was under pressure from gun-control groups to veto the measure after he expressed support for several gun control policies following the massacre in Dayton, Ohio. On Monday, he decided to sign the bill but expressed disappointment that the legislature failed to take up any of his gun control policies.
“It is vital that law-abiding citizens have the right to legally protect themselves when confronted with a life-threatening situation,” DeWine said in a statement. “While campaigning for Governor, I expressed my support for removing the ambiguity in Ohio’s self-defense law, and Senate Bill 175 accomplishes that goal. That is why I have signed this bill today.”
“I am very disappointed, however, that the legislature did not include in this bill the essential provisions that I proposed to make it harder for dangerous criminals to illegally possess and use guns,” he continued.
SEE ALSO: Know When to Stand Your Ground and When You Have a Duty to Retreat (Part I – Stand Your Ground)
Moms Demand Action was among the groups hoping DeWine would veto the legislation. They argue that stand your ground laws promote violence and “disproportionately affect communities of color.”
“When it comes to gun safety, Governor DeWine is all talk and no action,” said Lisa Voigt, a volunteer with Ohio Moms Demand Action. “By kowtowing to the extremists in the legislature he has failed his constituents and let the world know that he stands with the gun lobby over public safety. By signing this reckless, racist legislation he is putting Ohioans at risk.”
“Talk is cheap,”said Mitchell Pinsky, a junior at The Ohio State University and member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board.“Gov. DeWine has said a lot about wanting to prevent gun violence, but instead he threw his power behind this racist and dangerous policy that we know will only increase gun violence. Ohioans deserve leaders who will act on calls to prevent gun violence and tackle systemic racism — not enact shameful laws that take us backward.”
In his statement Monday, DeWine reiterated his support for a law mandating stricter reporting requirements to the national and state background check systems as well as a law increasing penalties for those who possess guns illegally.
SEE ALSO: Know When to Stand Your Ground and When You Have a Duty to Retreat (Part II – Duty to Retreat)
“In the spirit of cooperation with the General Assembly, I have signed Senate Bill 175. I look forward to working with members of the legislature in the future to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and to protect the rights of citizens who follow the law,” DeWine concluded.
“Stand your ground” laws have been characterized by the anti-gun lobby as encouraging shootouts in situations that could have ended peacefully. In reality, “stand your ground” laws require the person who acted in self-defense to prove that he or she reasonably believed they were in danger of death or serious bodily harm. “Stand your ground” policies simply say that people faced with life-threatening situations do not have to consider whether or not they have a safe avenue of retreat.
Ohio joins 34 other states that have some form of “stand your ground” or expanded castle doctrine laws on the books, according to the RAND Corporation.
Want to make it difficult for criminals to get guns? Make gun running and violent criminal possession a expedited capital offense instead of letting these goblins out to reoffend. Oh while we’re at it,mandatory 10 years prison for officials who release a violent criminal who severely injures rapes or kills someone.
Make justice just again!
Mayor of Akron Ohio said the same ridiculous thing, that it would be more dangerous for “Black and Brown” people. I thought inducing a panic was against the law!? Time for all races to come together and tell the politicians that we will not be divided when it comes to our own personal safety! Its harder to tell what race the person attacking you is anyway because we are forced to wear a mask over our skin! I promise race will be the last thing I worry about if there is a gun, knife, or any other weapon I’m being attacked with. I pray that day will never come. Keep the faith! All is not lost yet, every small victory helps.
If I stand my ground on a white person am I a racist? NOPE, I’m alive and can continue my law abiding life. Anyone who tries to violate me or my family, prepare for the consequent.
Larry, I totally agree W/you. Actually just told the wife about the whole “R” thing being out of control. Whatever race you are, don’t commit crimes or attempt bodily harm & I won’t have to defend myself, family, or property against you
What’s racist about it? I don’t care what color you are. If you try to harm me or those I care the only thing I’m concerned about is stopping the threat.
There we go again….let’s bring up the “R” word to try and make a point. Devoid of logic, and a classic ad hominem argument. Criminals are criminals, and race has nothing to do with it.
Is the only 10% of the population trying to run the Country? The astute leader 4 years ago brought up this policy and everyone who isn’t “a person of color” believes the U.S.A will conform to ANY ideas they can think up. And when Old Joe goes (retires, gets sick or dies) Kamala Harris will once again try to crush the 90% population of this God given Country.
I’d like someone to tell me ONE damn thing that isn’t RACIST according to BLM and the radical left!!
Some things spring eternal in life, Person A makes a logical statement and Person B claims the world is going to end as a result.
Person A: The Governor, says that if accosted by someone it is no longer your duty to retreat. Good call, since many aggressive people start pushing, retreating signals them to push harder. While standing one’s ground is not always the smartest idea and a careful retreat is the best of choices, the opposite is true as well. It isn’t the law’s business anyway; it’s the business of the person involved who has to decide and then do what appears smartest, be it standing up or backing down to a bully (or other fluidly hostile situation). So for the Governor, good call – you are letting the people involved decide what is best rather than some legislator who hasn’t the faintest idea regarding the situation involved, but by the Gods, they can write laws!
So: Win for rationalism >>> Let the situation determine the action rather than some uninvolved suit in the legislature.
On the other side, Ms. Voight demonstrates an amazing Karin-like ability to be a hypocrite. How so? “Mom’s demand action” is a pressure group made up of people who personally dislike firearms and thus think nobody should have them. They offer various scenarios of how possession of firearms brings a greater risk of danger, of possible harm while ignoring mountains of evidence to the contrary (since that evidence contradicts their point of argument). Simple fact; these people engage in using Opinion as Fact, in presenting one side of an argument as the only side, and engage in hypocrisy to a degree that is truly worthy of negative admiration. Their very name shows how they are focused on appearance rather than fact: “Mom’s demand action” presents a demonstrably false image of their intent and nature, seeking to use respect for one’s parents as a tool for the advancement of their agenda. Yes, there are demonstrably some mothers involved, but not exclusively and not to the degree they claim.
Bottom line, a small step toward reasonable action is taken and a propaganda group is shouting it down because it goes against their desire for control. Sadly, ” ’twas ever thus…”
The foolishness of most “Gun Control Advocates” is that Stand Your Ground laws actually help “people of color” protect themselves from the criminal element that their feckless leaders fail to protect them from,
A mother that does not protect her children… That says it all…
Thae fact that she feels it is racist does not make one bit of sense when more black people kill black people then white people do…. What sort of racist are those blacks that are killing their own..????
Thanks for standing your ground and protecting the HONEST citizens of Ohio, Governor Dewine……..
It is a fact that they do not want black people to be able to protect themselves from” other black criminals” because scared people are easier to control.
Regarding the odd racist points raised by “Mom’s demand…”
You should never let reality or reason get in the way of an appeal to emotion, based on deceit. It isn’t Blacks shooting Blacks, Whites shooting Whites, or for that matter, Polka-dots preying on both groups.
It’s the attempt to create a straw man full of lies that nonetheless assists with your appeal to emotion spurred by carefully cultivated fear/shame/sorrow tracts that have nothing to do with reality but do assist your appeal to the un-reasoning and emotionally immature audience that your message is targeted toward.
I have made several derogatory posts on this site in regards
to our governor , DeWine . I firmly believed he would not sign
said legislation , and dear readers , I was wrong .
I must take back 1/100th of the bad things I’ve said of him .
‘ Looks like I’ll have to enjoy my supper of crow this evening .
Maybe a teaspoon lol and salt,or Worcestershire is your friend
How could this be considered “racist” in any form or stretch of the imagination…so…you have an obligation to run away from a black perp but not a white one…someone explain this one to me.
“… extremists in the legislature”?? What the hell?
I don’t even WANT to know what color the sky is in Lisa Voigt’s world… where individuals who support the Constitution (ALL of it, including its 2nd Amendment) are labeled – by liberal cuckoo clocks – as “extremists” and those individuals who seek to destroy the Constitution are considered “mainstream” intelligentsia…
But I know with absolute certainty that I want no part of that screwed-up world for myself or my family… and certainly not in my grandchildren’s future!
How exactly is this a racist move? Every ethnic background has the right of self defense. I think that a lot of people of color would disagree with these statements. The stand you ground law includes the right to use a firearm to protect yourself in a life threatening situation but it in many cases other weapons are used for the same protection. Pepper spray, stun guns, and even house or car keys can and have been used as weapons of protection. This law only reduces the risk of imprisonment or incarceration if you injure or kill someone while protecting yourself with and by ANY means necessary in a life threatening situation. Stand your ground laws are not only for the use of a firearm. These people have tunnel vision for a gun free America and that is just not going to happen.
Keep in mind that today, “Racist” is the rage word used to discredit an opposing viewpoint, just as “Sexist”, “Warmonger”, “Peacenick”, etc have been used in the past. Its presence simply means the accuser lacks the vocabulary to negatively respond to the situation and has defaulted to one of the simple, easy to use words they have heard and that they believe sound sufficiently negative to be an appropriate response.
I suppose the contrarian libtard viewpoint to “Stand Your Ground” would be “Just Bend Over”.
Hm. Libtard? Don’t know that one, but as a card-carrying Democrat, my response in a “Stand your Ground” situation would be “Just how lucky do you feel, loser?” delivered with a smile and a slight turn to face the source of the threat.
Scares the snot out of the average mugger long enough for me to either draw-down or kick them in the happy sacks. Yeah, I’m a Liberal who carries and who is quite willing to punch someone’s eternity ticket for them if they threaten me or those with me. But then I’m weird anyway…
Lisa Voigt, a volunteer with Ohio Moms Demand Action said, “By kowtowing to the extremists in the legislature he has failed his constituents and let the world know that he stands with the gun lobby over public safety. By signing this reckless, racist legislation he is putting Ohioans at risk.”
So let’s get this straight, Lisa. What you are saying is, if someone is trying to kill me and I kill them first, I am a racist?
Some people just can’t be fixed. It’s unfortunate the heard can’t be culled of wastes like Lisa.
Indeed. If you kill the attacker you are a racist…if you allow them to kill you then you are simply a non-racist victim…simplicity itself…
Generally, the new legislation -might be- approved by the governor, but it is STILL delayed in actually taking effect for a couple months or more.
I’ve never been able to understand why, but that is what one should expect.
Hopefully no law-abiding citizen needs to rely on new law before it’s allowed to “take effect”.
In the military we took an oath to defend the constitution against enemy’s foreign & domestic. If I saw someone else being attacked I would interfere. 3 bronze stars later & still no one’s told me to stop.
IS she saying that people of color are more violent and thus more likely to be shot by a victim of their crime. Kind of a racist person. If people don’t want to get shot don’t do the crime.
Hey Mom’s, gun safety has absolutely nothing to do with this law, except that people handle their firearms safely. In the mean time, raise your kids right, teach them to respect others, and we have no.problem.
It sure does affect people of color, the law abiding people of color in the crime areas can now defend themselves a little more safely. Good job DeWine!! I wasn’t going to retreat anyway though lol
I guess, according to Mitchell Pinsky, if you defend yourself against a person of color you are a racist. This is typical of the way colleges have turned the kids minds to mush. They can’t think for themselves and have been indoctrinated with the ideas that guns are bad and white people are bad.
I sure hope they let Cleveland know…..the city city doesn’t seem to get any of the memo’s!