COLUMBUS, Ohio – State Representatives Candice Keller (R-Middletown) and Ron Hood (R-Ashville) introduced “Stand Your Ground” legislation, House Bill 381 (HB 381), in the Ohio House of Representatives on Wednesday. Twenty-two members co-sponsored the bill.

“The reason I went forward today and introduced HB 381 the Ohio Stand Your Ground Act,” Keller told The Ohio Star, “is to combat the current gun control/restriction proposals here in the Ohio House that will simply serve to place restrictions on law-abiding gun owners and further erode our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

“These proposed erosions or infringements should be alarming to all of us,” Keller added. “As we must remember that it truly was the Second Amendment that protected the First and all subsequent amendments.”

Some of the House Bills to which she was referring include House Bills 240, 319,320, 335 and 348. The Senate also has multiple bills and the Governor’s recent recommendations which were compiled in Senator Matt Dolan’s (R-Chagrin Falls) Senate Bill 221.

Members who have co-sponsored the Stand Your Ground are Representatives Niraj J. Antani, John Becker, Tom Brinkman, Jon Cross, Bill Dean, Diane V. Grendell, Don Jones, Kris Jordan, George F. Lang, P. Scott Lipps, Susan Manchester, Don Manning, Riordan T. McClain, Derek Merrin, Phil Plummer, Jena Powell, Tracy Richardson, Craig S. Riedel, Todd Smith, Reggie Stoltzfus, A. Nino Vitale and Paul Zeltwanger, all Republicans who constitute more than one third of the Republican members in the Ohio House of Representatives.

Dr. John Lott, President of Crime Prevention Research Center, defines “Stand Your Ground” as “the right to defend oneself without retreating as far as possible.” He recently covered the issue earlier this year in a Townhall op-ed.

Lott penned the article in response to a Democratic Arkansas State Senator’s attack on a Stand Your Ground bill in their Judiciary Committee. The attack was race-based. One of Lott’s points was, “Over 30 states have adopted laws that remove the requirement to retreat. Some states have had these laws since their inceptions. Before the famous 2012 Trayvon Martin case, these laws were overwhelmingly supported across racial lines. The irony is that George Zimmerman never used the Stand Your Ground law in his defense. Zimmerman was on his back and had no option to retreat, so the law was completely irrelevant.”

Ohio Gun Owner’s Chris Dorr was at the Statehouse for the bill drop with the two sponsors. He wrote on his groups’ Facebook page,

The fabulous Candice Keller, fearlessly swinging back with both fists on behalf of Ohio’s BEST citizens (gun owners, of course!) by introducing the wonderful #StandYourGround bill today (along with TWENTY TWO Republican Cosponsors!) with Representative Ron Hood! !”

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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star. Follow Beth on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].

Photo Courtesy of Chris Dorr.