Ohio's Dewine Eliminates Duty To Retreat

[jmp45]

Ohio Gov. DeWine signs gun rights bill eliminating duty to retreat.

The measure expands the so-called “stand your ground” right from an individual’s house and car to any place, “if that person is in a place in which the person lawfully has a right to be.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/ohio-gov-dewine-signs-gun-rights-bill-eliminating-duty-to-retreat

[okie]

That's great news, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security.

Stand your ground, castle doctrine, make my day, etc. are all catchy, but they don't really change anything, other than to offer some flimsy protection to people who were involved in a good shoot to begin with.

In all of those laws, you will find language like "reasonable person," meaning it's still ultimately up to a jury to decide what reasonable means. The underlying principles of self defense still apply. The dead guy had to have means, motive, and opportunity.

And like Ayoob is quick to point out, you're still guilty until proven innocent. So the burden is on you to prove that the dead guy did in fact mean to do you serious harm.

What this means is any situation where you could have escaped probably isn't going to qualify as legal self defense anyways. Having the time and space to escape almost always means that something is missing from the means/motive/opportunity equation.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, and may offer some protection to an innocent victim at some point, but more often it encourages dumb people to commit murder thinking they now have a license to kill.

[Diamondback]

What's the catch? DeWhiner has always been a gun-grabbing turdsucker, and you can bet anytime he gives with one hand he's taking something away with the other.

[Arik]

What's the catch? DeWhiner has always been a gun-grabbing turdsucker, and you can bet anytime he gives with one hand he's taking something away with the other.The catch.....you can only use an oven mitt for self defense! [emoji2957]

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[jmp45]

That's great news, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security.

Stand your ground, castle doctrine, make my day, etc. are all catchy, but they don't really change anything, other than to offer some flimsy protection to people who were involved in a good shoot to begin with.

In all of those laws, you will find language like "reasonable person," meaning it's still ultimately up to a jury to decide what reasonable means. The underlying principles of self defense still apply. The dead guy had to have means, motive, and opportunity.

And like Ayoob is quick to point out, you're still guilty until proven innocent. So the burden is on you to prove that the dead guy did in fact mean to do you serious harm.

What this means is any situation where you could have escaped probably isn't going to qualify as legal self defense anyways. Having the time and space to escape almost always means that something is missing from the means/motive/opportunity equation.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, and may offer some protection to an innocent victim at some point, but more often it encourages dumb people to commit murder thinking they now have a license to kill.

Good points Okie, especially the last. I agree with Diamondback's assessment too, DeWine has never been one to trust like most if not all politicians.