Stand Your Ground Law Essay

According to research done by Mark Hoekstra, an economist with Texas A&M University who has thoroughly examined “stand your ground” laws, there are a total of about 14,000 homicides taking place annually in the United States (11). A homicide, in this case, refers to one person unlawfully killing another. That is a fairly high number and it didn’t used to be that high. It has risen significantly since “stand your ground” laws have been implemented into 22 states across the United States. These laws give people the right to use deadly force in a situation in which they feel threatened no matter where they are as long as they have a legal right to be there (Mayors 1). These laws were put into place to benefit our society, but it can be proven that they have not been successfully benefitting our society as a whole because while they do give people the peace of mind that they have the right to protect themselves without fearing the consequences they may have before had to face afterwards, they have also resulted in many more deaths that before that could have been avoided if the person sensing danger had first tried to somehow escape the situation they were in before resorting to violence. The first “stand your ground” law was passed in Florida in 2005 and since then 21 states have followed suit by implementing a law of the same sort. Those
These “stand your ground” laws have definitely amplified the risk to citizens that just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, because of these laws, an individual could just be randomly struck by a poorly aimed bullet while walking their dog in the park or sitting in the sand at the beach with their family. The whole purpose of this law was to make people feel safer, but this risk may actually cause people to feel more unsafe and at risk no matter where they