Castle Doctrine is Law in Ohio

Or, at least it will be in 89 days, which is 90 days after Governor Strickland signed it (yesterday)

You know, I find I am  agreeing more with Strickland (a Democrat) – and not just on this bill – than I ever did with his predecessor Taft (Hawk – Spit! a Republican RINO).

“What we’ve clarified in this bill I think will go a long way toward providing both law enforcement as well as law-abiding citizens some confidence that what they’re doing is, in fact, consistent with the law,” he said.

A partial analysis from the Buckeye Firearms Association:

Castle Doctrine: If someone breaks into your occupied home or temporary habitation, or your occupied car, you have an initial presumption that you may act in self defense. The prosecutors may overcome this presumption if illegal activity was happening or other extenuating circumstances, such as a husband and wife domestic violence situation.

Good, Good…

Civil Immunity: Crime victims will be immune from civil actions from their attackers and their families for actions that cause a criminal to be harmed or killed.

To me, this is the most important piece of this legislation.  In the past, if you were charged and found not guilty, or if you were no-billed by a grand jury, or if the prosecutor never even referred your case to a grand jury nor ever pressed charges, you could still be held liable in civil court and lose everything you owned to the scumbag perp or (if deceased) his family.  Now the criminals who suffer a catastrophic failure in the victim selection process and get shot and/or killed for their efforts can go fuck themselves.

This bill is a good first step.  Now, to take a page from the anti-gunners playbooks, we need to incrementally achieve more and more reversals of liberty-encroaching laws in this area.  Next should be the application of “Castle Doctrine” and “No duty to retreat” to any place a law-abiding citizen has a right to be.  Ditto Civil Immunity.  If I am justified in protecting myself or a family member and immune from prosecution for same in my car on a public street why not in a hospital, library or restaurant?

Dave Hardy has a post on it.  So does Sebastian.

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