The state Senate in Ohio has just overridden a veto from Gov. John Kasich on a gun bill that shifts the burden of proof from the defense to prosecutors in shootings involving self-defense. The Senate threatened a number of overrides after the Republican governor vetoed many bills. Although lawmakers were successful with the gun bill, they failed to do the same regarding a proposed abortion restriction that would have potentially been the most far-reaching in the nation.
The gun bill allows off-duty police officers to carry concealed weapons and strengthens penalties against certain illegal firearm purchases, FOX 8 Cleveland reported.
Kasich opposed language that shifted the burden of proof in self-defense cases from the defendants to the prosecutors. He also took issue with the omission of a “red flag” law that allows authorities to take away firearms from people who demonstrate they are a danger to themselves or others.
“This idea’s omission from this legislation is a shortcoming that I cannot accept,” Kasich said, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But the state’s GOP-led Legislature disagreed. The House voted 67-22 in favor of the override, following a 21-11 Senate vote earlier Thursday.
In a win abortion-rights advocates, Statehouse Republicans came up one vote shy of reversing Kasich’s veto of the so-called “heartbeat bill.” While the House passed the override measure, the Senate could muster only 19 of the required 20 votes.
The bill would have banned abortions after the first detectable heartbeat of a fetus, which can come as early as six weeks — or before most women know they are pregnant.
Kasich, who leaves office in January, called the bill unconstitutional and hoped to avoid costly litigation that would have most certainly resulted from its passing.
Source: Fox News
Image: Gage Skidmore
