Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Stand Your Ground Laws?


I asked the question online: "Which states have stand your ground laws?" and the following   showed all the states that have them.

I was actually under the mistaken impression that California had Stand Your Ground laws too. Because running away from people trying to kill you usually means you are dead. So, if someone is trying to kill you with a lethal weapon running isn't usually an option if it is a gun, a spear or a bow and arrow because you can't run away from any of these if someone is serious. Even if someone had a knife if they know how to throw one means you are dead. So, most people that have a gun in these situations likely would shoot first to defend themselves and ask questions later. Because at least then they would still be alive even if it wasn't legal to defend themselves from someone murdering them in that State. But the problem with not having stand your ground laws in states might mean that people who defended themselves might never report the incident at all when they defended themselves. So, not having stand your ground laws might make matters worse than they would have been otherwise because it has the tendency to make good citizens break the law in bad situations where they are attacked and must defend themselves.

Alabama
Arizona
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois (The law does not include a duty to retreat, which courts have interpreted as a right to expansive self-defense.)
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Oregon (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Washington (Also does not include a duty to retreat.)
West Virginia

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