Do you support "stand your ground laws"?

But only in self defense. If you go after someone when you could get away, it is no longer self defense. If someone enters your home who wasnt supposed to be there, you have every right to defend yourself. However, if you are outside and see somone enter your home, you should call the police and you should never go after them. Call the police!!

Initially I did but then we had a local case not too long ago where a drunken man knocked loudly on his neighbor's door by mistake late at night and the homeowner shot and killed him through the closed door and got off Scott free. Although technically it was the Castle doctrine that was used successfully as his defense and not the Stand Your Ground law but these type laws are giving some people a reason to use bad judgement and shoot first and ask questions later even when their life is not in jeopardy. If I'm not mistaken there was a case in Mississippi recently where a convenience store clerk shot and killed an unarmed man running away after he stole some beer, how can that be justified? I can understand if someone's life is in jeopardy but for a case of beer????

I don't think anyone should have to flee their home if it is invaded by criminals. That is just plain wrong. I think everyone should be able to defend the sanctity of his/her home without fear of prosecution. I know I would.

Being compelled to run away (like a Frenchman) is the most disgusting thing I can imagine. That doesn't mean you should always fight when it makes more sense to run away, but the "duty to retreat" is about as unAmerican as it gets...

Yes, in your own home or on your property. Not out in the streets randomly, just to check things out.

I do because I'll be the first to admit in a stand your ground situation I'd almost gladly pull the trigger. I wouldn't try to aim for a fatal shot though.

Without a doubt. I will defend my family no matter what. And anyone who threatens the lives of me or my family should have no illusions about the danger he places himself in.

Yes I do any one that would attack me or my family would wish he was never born, but I also think that there are limits if a kid is stealing your hub caps he should be apprehended but I don't think he needs to die any more than a kid stealing Christmas decorations we all need to teach our children to respect others and when I say all I do mean races and religions no one is above the laws of common decency!

except for nuts like Zimmer

Though they shouldn't even be necessary since meaningful self-defense often involves standing one's ground, these rules are needed to clarify that the defender has the right to make this decision when faced with a grave threat.

Law or not I've always stood my ground and always will.

Absolutely.

No one should ever face jail time because they couldn't prove that 'running away' from a criminal threat to wasn't an option.

i dont know what you mean. i guess.

I will defend my family and property from all scum bags that tresspass and want something my family or friend has with out working for it. sign on our door reads we do not call 911.

Self defense is a natural right. No one should have to hide from criminals attacking them because the law considers the criminal's safety as more important than the property owners survival..

If you come to my house to do me harm I will be standing over you watching you die as I call the law....

Yes, as long as there is an imminent threat to one's person or home. Once the threat is passed, one should stand down.

Too many people interpret this as a "license to kill". America has always had a "self-defense" law.



That said, I hope Treyvon Martin receives justice, and the Florida "stand your own ground law" is used to put away the man who profiled him, pursued him (carrying a gun), disobeyed police authorities to wait for them, confronted him and killed Treyvon Martin when Treyvon Martin was "standing his own ground" at his father's apartment complex. Don't you hope so too?

There is such a as being at the wrong place at the wrong time,it's called the "Bad Hour" the question is "Was he ready to meet his God?"

Malachi,
I really hope to hell when my children come around to visit their Dad they are not "at the wrong place at the wrong time. . ."

Me too! but l don't hope to "hell" I pray for them, that God protect them from that "bad" hour....that they are not at the wrong place at the wrong time....

Malachi,
Treyvon Martin was visiting his father. He went to the C-Store to buy a bag of Skittles. How the hell does that convert into "the wrong place at the wrong time"? It takes a racist with a fixation on carrying guns around to accomplish that.

What has his visiting his father got to do with anything? so if it wasn't being at "the wrong place at the wrong time" it is " your time to go" everyone has that "appointment" to keep.however tragic the end.many people leave home thinking that they will return and never do,the question that would concern me more is " was he or she ready to meet thier maker?" in this case it was tragic for both Treyvon and Zimmerman.

oh my goodness! when when all is lost use the race card!! http://ironicsurrealism.com/f...

Malachi,
When a person cannot walk through his own neighborhood without being profiled because of his "race", pursued by a man with a gun because of his "race", his pursuer ignoring police direction to stand down (because of his race), confronted because of his race, and killed because of his race, I guess you play "THE RACE CARD".

This whole incident IS racial. A boy was suspected of being a burglar because of his race. He was pursued because of his race. He was killed because of his race.

Why should I have to back down from a criminal? If anyone threatens me, my family or my friends in my presence, I will put them down. We shoot rabid dogs, violent criminals are no better and often a good deal worse.

JDLogan,
You have never been prevented by law from not backing down from a criminal. Even in states which don't have "stand your ground" laws.

However, DON'T profile, report to police and then ingnore their warning to stay put, pursue (carrying a gun), confront, and kill. . . You may be proscuted for 2nd degree murder. . .

People do all that, and worse, without stand your ground laws; and a good friend of mine was confronted by a mugger with a knife, drew a gun instead of a wallet and shot the man, and was convicted of manslaughter for not attempting to retreat or handing over his wallet and hoping the guy would go away. So don't tell me what the law does or doesn't prevent.

JDLogan,
If the facts indicate someone is attacked, that person has the right to defend himself/herself in any state of the union. As facts continue to come out in the Treyvon Martin case, it is apparent that the self-appointed protector of an apartment complex for everyone there except for his neighbor, Martin, and Martin's family, rashly carried a gun in the pursuit of someone the police told him not to pursue, and killed a 17 year old boy. Now, the "stand your own ground law" of Florida won't protect a man for committing second degree murder, but it might help the prosecution get justice for a 17 year old boy, "standing his own ground". . .

What you described in your second paragraph is not protected by "stand your ground".

Footage,
Well, I think there was only one paragraph, above. That said, when a person is in the home of his parents (or apartment compound) and is being pursued by a man who thinks he has no right to be there, is it not "standing your own ground" to insist you should be there?

Or does "stand your own ground" only protect people who profile, pursue with gun, and kill?

Stand your ground does not protect people who profile and pursue in any case.

Then, poor Zimmerman will not have that as a defense. A judge cannot exonerate him. He will have to go before a jury and explain why he did not wait for the police who told him to do so instead of pursuing the black teenager with a gun. . .

But if the defense wants to say that Martin took a punch at Zimmerman or banged his head on the sidewalk, I think the prosecutors can refer to "stand your own ground" as Martin's defense for his right to be walking back from a C Store, unarmed, with Skittles to his father's apartment while an armed lunatic chased him around the compound. Don't you think?

I agree. "Stand your ground" will not defend Zimmerman, and could, in fact, have been used to defend Martin.

You should have the right to takeout a scumbag that is threating you or your loved ones.I certainly will with no remorse or hesitation.....

And seeing as I have 40 ac I have a lot of ground to stand..

How far are you suppose to backoff. If your family is endangered or threatened no cops around what are you gonna do? Not everybody is as good as Chuck Norris.......

I support the castle doctrine, but stand your ground can be used too easily to cover something else.