COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) – Ohio joins three dozen states Tuesday with the “Stand Your Ground” law going into effect.

It means that “that there is no duty to retreat from an attacker in any place in which one is lawfully present.”

The law says a legal gunowner can use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is in defense of life.

It expands that description of self-defense to apply in public and not just in a person’s home or vehicle.

The “Stand Your Ground” law says you cannot be the aggressor and takes away the so-called “duty to retreat.”

Senate Bill 175 passed in December.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed it in January.

“This is not what people meant when they asked us to ‘do something’ last year after the deadly mass shooting in Dayton,” Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, (D) of Richmond Heights said to FOX 8 sister station NBC4.

On August 4, 2019, 24-year-old Connor Betts shot and killed nine people and injured 17 others in the Oregon District in Dayton.

In a tweet, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley wrote, “The dangerous “Stand Your Ground” bill that Mike DeWine signed… will make Ohio less safe for everyone, especially African Americans. This is the sort of legislation we get when we prioritize politics over people.”

The law was first passed in Florida in 2005.

The American Journal of Public Health says evidence shows self-defense laws do not deter violent crime.

In a study after Florida passed the law, there was an increase in violence, according to the Journal.