Florida, Other States ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Linked To Increased Homicide Rates
By Web staff
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MIAMI, Florida (WFOR) — Florida was the first state to enact a “stand your ground” law in 2005 and at least 27 other states now have similar laws.
A new study has found that states that have these laws, which allow people to respond to threats with potentially lethal force without fear of criminal prosecution, are linked to increased homicide rates, amounting to hundreds of additional deaths per year.
States saw an average increase of 8-10% in monthly homicides between 1999 and 2017 after the enactment of such laws, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal.
“Stand your ground” laws garnered national attention in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death in 2012. George Zimmerman shot Martin but was acquitted on second-degree murder charges in part because he claimed self-defense under Florida’s law. Saturday marks 10 years since Martin’s death.
“There is consistent evidence that the laws are potentially hazardous,” said David Humphreys, an associate professor at the University of Oxford who co-authored the study. “Part of the justification of these laws is that they can be useful in helping people protect themselves and improving public safety more generally, and we just don’t see any evidence of that.”
The trend was particularly stark in southern states, with Alabama and Florida seeing a jump in firearm homicides by 33% and 30%, respectively, and others also seeing double-digit increases.
While researchers did not find a significant decrease in deaths related to “stand your ground” laws in any state, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia did not have a significant increase either.
The study examined homicide data between 1999 and 2017 from 24 states that implemented “stand your ground” laws until 2016. “No states had significant reductions in violent deaths, as advocates often argue when justifying these laws,” the researchers wrote.
While researchers did not find a significant decrease in deaths related to “stand your ground” laws in any state, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia did not have a significant increase either.
The study examined homicide data between 1999 and 2017 from 24 states that implemented “stand your ground” laws until 2016. “No states had significant reductions in violent deaths, as advocates often argue when justifying these laws,” the researchers wrote.
“What these laws are saying now though is, don’t walk away, don’t get the police involved, solve it yourself,” Hoffmeister said. “And I don’t know if you want a society that encourages people to resort to lethal force when they don’t have to.”
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