From the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence:  Stand Your Ground!    Let your Representatives hear from you now. House Bill 228- Stand Your Ground- is probably going to be voted on in the Ohio House of Representatives next week. Wednesday June 27th at their session at 1:30 PM. Keep in mind that Ohio law already allows for self-defense when you are in immediate danger and cannot safely retreat.  HB 228 makes a number of serious mistakes. While a person should surely be allowed to protect himself, he/she should not be excused from assessing the degree and immediacy of danger before using deadly force against another person.  Here are some of the things that are dangerous about this bill.   ·         That lethal force should be the first line of defense. ·         That fear and/or danger justifies suspension of rational thought.  ·         That any citizen may with impunity act on an ad hoc basis, as judge, jury, and executioner of his fellow citizens ·         That some citizens are not entitled to the cherished right to a trial by a jury of his/her peers and, instead, legally may be judged unworthy of that right by one angry or fearful citizen.  ·         That minimally trained or untrained, unsupervised civilians should have authority to use lethal force in ways that are currently prohibited to our highly trained police officers. ·         That society is better served by street justice than by the rule of law.   MAKE TWO CALLS TO STAND YOUR GROUND AGAINST THIS BILL:  Call the speaker and let him know you don’t want him to call for a vote. The bill is unnecessary. Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Rep Ryan Smith, 614.466.1366, Rep93@ohiohouse.gov  + Call your legislator and ask him/her to vote NO on HB 228 next week if it comes up for a vote.  Find your legislator  https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5610/c/222/getLocal4.jsp