COLUMBUS – Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he wants a better gun bill from the state's GOP-controlled Legislature, calling their unwillingness to consider a red flag law "baffling and unconscionable."

Citing a number of recent shootings including the attack at the Fifth Third Bank building in Cincinnati, Kasich demanded more comprehensive gun policies from lawmakers while vetoing their proposed law to force prosecutors to prove a shooter acted in self-defense.

“New policies are needed to better safeguard those in crisis, their families, their co-workers, their classmates, their educators, law enforcement officers and the general public from the harm that we have seen happen far too many times when those in crisis have unrestricted access to firearms and have exhibited signs of causing harm,” Kasich wrote in his lengthy veto message Wednesday afternoon.

The bill Kasich vetoed, House Bill 228, initially included language that would have eliminated the duty to retreat after using deadly force, often called "stand your ground" laws. Ohio's GOP-controlled Senate removed that language on Dec. 6, but Kasich still didn't like the changes.

“If you think I’m going to sign a bill that gives more power to the gun folks, are you kidding me?” Kasich told reporters. "That’s a moral issue: gun violence."

State lawmakers could override Kasich's veto with support from three-fifths of lawmakers in both the Ohio House of Representatives and Senate. Republicans control both chambers and have marked their calendars to meet next week. It's not clear they have the votes to override Kasich's veto, though.

Why did Kasich reject this gun bill? "Signing it into law would be detrimental to the safety of all our citizens,” Kasich wrote in his veto message.

The final version included only one idea from Kasich's bipartisan group tasked with finding solutions to gun-related violence. The bill did not include a "red flag" law to allow relatives or police to remove guns from someone deemed a threat to themselves or others.

“That the General Assembly has been unwilling to even debate the idea is baffling and unconscionable to me. This idea’s omission from the legislation is a shortcoming that I cannot accept,” Kasich wrote in his veto message.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans wanted to add that red flag provision to the bill sent to Kasich, but the idea was ultimately rejected.

The bill Kasich vetoed would have changed who must prove a shooter acted in self-defense.

Under current law, that's the person who fired the shot. Under the proposed changes, the prosecutor would need to prove the person did not act in self-defense to pursue charges. Ohio is the only state that places that burden on the shooter.

Kasich disagreed with that approach, telling The Enquirer, "if I have a gun and I shoot somebody, I should have to describe why I did that."

The bill also would have prohibited cities from passing their own rules about guns and gun-related items, such as Cincinnati's ban on bump stocks. The proposed legislation would give municipalities nine months to repeal such rules.

Kasich wrote that change "erodes Ohio’s long-established policies that guarantee local government substantial sovereignty under the legal principle known as ‘home rule.’”

The gun bill is just one of several battles between Kasich and lawmakers teed up for their final weeks in office. The governor has promised to veto a ban on abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected and said he opposes last-minute pay raises for lawmakers.

“As Jeb Bush said one time and I think he might be right: ‘By the time we’re done, I might be known as Veto Corleone,’" Kasich said. "I have no joy in having to veto stuff, but I’m not going to sign stuff that I don’t agree with in a deep, deep way.”

MORE: Ohio Gov. Kasich onnew gun bill: 'It's very hard for me to support anything like this'

MORE: Ohio lawmakers strip 'stand your ground' from gun bill