Canton City Council opposes Ohio "stand your ground" legislation

Canton City Council on Monday voted to oppose Ohio House Bill 228, a “stand your ground” law. H.B. 228 would make it easier for armed citizens to shoot people who threaten them, threaten others or threaten the armed citizen’s property.

This proposed law does more than make it easier to stand your ground. For details, read the resolution below or this Legislative Service Commission analysis of the bill:

https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/download?key=9758&format=pdf

Here is the text of the City Council resolution:

An Informal Resolution Respectfully Submitted by Canton City Council on this 10th day of September, 2018

Whereas, House Bill 228, currently before the State Legislature, would amend sections of the Ohio Revised Code dealing with self-defense claims; and

Whereas, These types of laws, known as “Stand Your Ground” laws, would effectively eliminate the obligation of citizens to safely retreat from or attempt to de-escalate a confrontational situation before resorting to deadly force; and 

Whereas, House Bill 228 would greatly diminish the security of public facilities such as courthouses, schools, churches, and airports by restricting notification of firearm prohibitions, and

Whereas, House bill 228 would assign the burden of disproving self-defense claim in a trial to the prosecution and would limit the use of the affirmative defense of self-defense under both civil and criminal law, thereby calling its constitutionality into question, and

Whereas, Public agencies and law enforcement officials such as the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, State Highway Patrol, and the office of the Ohio Public Defender oppose House Bill 228

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That we, the Members of Canton City Council, do hereby go on record opposing House Bill 228 and urging all local Representatives and Senators to vote NO on House Bill 228.

One local representative unlikely to heed that urging is State Rep. Kirk Schuring. He is a co-sponsor of the “stand your ground” bill.

Council Member at-large Corey Minor Smith thanked Law Director Kristen Bates Alyward and Police Chief Jack Angelo in helping to draft the resolution and thanked other members of City Council for their support.

This is not a bill that would respond to mass shootings. For instance, it contains no ban on bump stocks that can turn semi-automatic military-style rifles into virtual automatics, and no court-supervised ability to temporarily take guns away from a person who appears to be a threat to himself or others.

For a newspaper editorial on the subject of Gov. John Kasich’s advocacy of such safety measures, see below, from the Aug. 11 Akron Beacon Journal:

https://www.ohio.com/akron/editorial/editorials/beacon-journal-ohio-com-editorial-board-the-governors-sensible-gun-regulations-still-deserve-better-at-the-statehouse