Stand Your Ground Law Case Study

Consider the story of a Seattle business owner who shot an intruder on February 17, 2013. According to the report, the intruder entered the business and encountered the owner inside. The two fought, and the business owner was able to retrieve his shotgun. The store owner used the shotgun to fire at the intruder. The intruder received non –life-threatening wounds and was later treated at the hospital. The business owner was not charged with a crime because of laws allowing people to defend themselves and their homes, or any place they habitat when there is a threat to their safety. (Krey) Laws such as these have been brought into media attention recently with the Trayvon Martin and Justin Davis shootings in Florida. Even though the “Stand
Unfortunately, the intent of the laws to allow a person to defend themselves has been used to defend the actions of people who are misrepresenting the purpose of the law. The law has been exploited by those invoking “stand your ground” to justify actions from animal abuse and misdemeanor drug possession. It brings into question the intent of the law as being used for self-defense when people invoke it to justify any criminal activity. The way the law is applied becomes a concern with the public when it is perceived that a person can be chased down and killed without repercussions. This is another reason the duty to retreat portion of Ohio’s concealed carry law doesn’t work. When a victim retreats, they can put themselves at more risk to be followed by the attacker and killed while trying to follow the law. The situation becomes problematic when attacker uses the law as a defense. Under the proposed changes, the evidence must support the claim of self-defense and be proven as justified with the majority of the evidence. (Lynch) Another critique of the law is that is racially biased. This perception could be based on the fact that the cases that involve different races tend to make the nightly news. However, the statistics show that there is no difference between the races in being charged or in conviction rates. “White defendants who invoked the law were charged and convicted at the same rate as black defendants.” (Hundley) Another claim is that “Stand your Ground” laws cause an increase in crime. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the national violent crime rate has decreased in 18 of the last 20 years. (Cox) In the states that have passed similar self-defense laws to Florida’s the murder rate dropped drastically between 2005 and 2009 as the laws were being passed throughout the country. Since Florida passed the law in 2005,