Study Says ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Increase Homicides (Florida Law)

[WSJ Law Blog]

In a new study, an economics professor and a PhD student at Texas A&M University conclude that "stand your ground" laws increase homicides and have no deterrent effect on crime.



In April, more than a month after the shooting of Trayvon Martin, we looked the incidence of justifiable homicides in states with “stand your ground” or “castle doctrine” laws like Florida’s.

In general, such laws grant people more leeway to use lethal force on an attacker. More than 20 were passed after Florida’s in 2005. They typically do at least one of the following:

• Remove a person’s duty to retreat in places outside the home
• Add the presumption that the person who killed in self defense had a reasonable fear of death or harm
• Grant people who kill in self-defense immunity from civil lawsuits

More...

[Lexus]

It is vital to stop the causes of homicides in order to stop the homicides from happening in the first place. It is vital social services and police are on their guard for the escalation of issues such as this. It is important to identify where homicides could stem from and pre-emptively address the issue with social initiatives to link the groups.

[Friend In Court]

The self defense standard should be adequate for one to protect themself. The stand your ground law as written does not require a real threat to one's safety before they shoot someone -- only a 'fear' which may or not be well founded.

The petition to repeal this law is gaining traction here in Florida and even some legislators who voted for the law now say they were not informed of its ramifications and how it would be applied -- that they would now vote to repeal.

[Maryellen]

It sounds like these laws should be repealed and there should be some middle ground. I'm 4'8" and under the stand your ground law I could probably get away with shooting just about anyone making an overt act towards me. Ridiculous.