Repealing “Stand Your Ground Laws”

 

Since 2005, 25 states including Texas, Georgia, and Florida (see complete list below) have passed a “Stand Your Ground Law” in all parts of the country (source). According to FindLaw, there are generally three types of self-defense laws:

• Stand Your Ground: No duty to retreat from the situation before resorting to deadly force; not limited to your home, place of work, etc.
• Castle Doctrine: No duty to retreat before using deadly force if you are in your home or yard (some states include a place of work and occupied vehicles)
• Duty to Retreat: Duty to retreat from a threatening situation if you can do so with complete safety

The term “Stand Your Ground” became part of the popular lexicon in the U.S. in July 2013 when George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin in Florida. The 2005 law in Florida was the first of its kind, a template bill of the National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The bill was fueled by the heightened fear in the Bush era (President George Bush and Governor Jeb Bush) and the politics becoming increasingly friendly to lobbying. Despite concern from many, including law enforcement, that the bill would allow people committing a crime to shoot first and then claim self-defense, the bill passed the Republican-led Florida legislature easily (source). 

Most recently in March 2021, South Dakota intensified their law to presume that anyone who unlawfully enters a home or vehicle that is not their own is doing so with the intent to use force or violence, a move which will likely face legal challenge and may be unconstitutional (source). 

Outside of constitutionality, the real cost of these laws is both that homicides increase, and that attorneys are less willing to bring lawsuits involving self-defense laws because they are more difficult to win. In a country with more guns than people, this issue is really about whether we are putting guardrails in place to encourage people to de-escalate conflict to save lives, or turning away and allowing gun owners to fire first and face few consequences. A study in the Journal of American College of Surgeons report showed that over a ten year period

“…justifiable firearm homicide rates increased by 55 percent in states that enacted Stand Your Ground, while these rates increased by 20 percent in states that did not have such laws….[and] overall homicide rates increased by 11 percent in Stand Your Ground states yet decreased by 2 percent in states that did not have such laws” (source).

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nevada

New Hampshire

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

West Virginia

Recap:

• Since Florida passed the first “Stand Your Ground” law in 2005, 25 states have followed suit
• In the 10 years since that law was passed, justifiable homicide rates increased by 55% in states with “Stand Your Ground” laws and overall homicide rates increased by 11%
• These laws are often opposed by law enforcement because they allow for more people committing illegal acts to justifiably use force of violence