Ohio “Stand Your Ground” law

 An article in this morning’s Columbus Dispatch is mentioning “members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus  hosting rallies and circulating petitions at churches and businesses, looking to create grassroots opposition to House Bill 203 -- a gun bill that includes a “stand your ground” provision, with county prosecutors and a variety of law-enforcement groups also oppose the provision, which eliminates an Ohio law requiring a person to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense, so long as the person is carrying a firearm lawfully and is in a place where he or she has the right to be.”
  
  Ohio Senate Bill 184, passed back in 2008, laying the basis for the state’s “castle doctrine” law, provided that “for purposes of any section of the Revised Code that sets forth a criminal offense, a person has no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's residence, with "vehicle" and  "residence" having the same meanings. [SB 184 analysis ]
 
  House Bill 203, introduced on June 11th., with regards to its self-defense provision, simply states “for purposes of any section of the Revised Code that sets forth a criminal offense, a person has no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's residence.”

  With the Trayvon Martin shooting & George Zimmerman still fresh in their minds, the Dispatch’s article relates  Rep. Alicia Reece, president of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus’s saying “We do not oppose the Second Amendment and the right to defend yourself, but at the same time, we certainly have concerns with ‘stand your ground’ provisions that would allow something like what happened in Florida.”

  “Chief Robert Oppenheimer of Perry Township Police in Franklin County, who is chairman of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police legislative committee, said there is no need for a change.

 “It’s sometimes more prudent to back away than charge forward,” the Chief said. “If you have (stand your ground), you are more apt to challenge each other. Nobody backs down, and it ends up with somebody getting hurt,” he said. “What happened in Florida shouldn’t have happened. ... The jury got it right, but I don’t think we want that in Ohio.”

  Ohio's self-defense statute is ORC 2901.09