WASHINGTON, D.C. – Stand-your-ground laws, which are in effect in more than half of U.S. states, are associated with higher homicide rates, increased racial disparities in legal outcomes and broader public costs, according to a new report from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control research and advocacy group.
Stand-your-ground or shoot first laws remove the legal duty to retreat before using deadly force in a self-defense situation. These laws evolved from the centuries-old castle doctrine, which permitted individuals to use force to defend themselves in their own homes.
Modern stand-your-ground statutes expanded this principle to apply in public spaces. Florida enacted the first such law in 2005, and the policy drew national attention in 2012 after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a private citizen.
Over the years, these laws have gained traction in state legislatures with strong backing from gun rights organizations. At least 35 states have stand-your-ground statutes or laws that expand the castle doctrine to apply beyond the home, according to a separate analysis by the RAND Corporation.
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A standalone 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network found that stand-your-ground laws were associated with an 8% to 11% increase in monthly homicide and firearm homicide rates nationwide. Several Southern states –– Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana –– saw increases of 10% or more.
States that have adopted stand-your-ground laws have seen gun homicides rise by up to 11% annually from 1999 to 2017, according to the JAMA report. That equates to more than 700 additional gun deaths each year, according to estimates in the Everytown report.
Nick Suplina, the senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown, said in a written statement that stand-your-ground legislation gives “free license to shoot and kill” and ought to be rejected. “Shoot First laws do nothing to protect our communities from violence,” Suplina wrote.
The new Everytown report comes as legislatures in at least a handful of states have recently debated whether to expand or roll back self-defense protections.
At the same time, the national conversation around firearm policy continues to grow, with ongoing discussions about red flag laws, safe storage, rapid-fire attachments and other gun-related measures.
A 2023 national NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that 58% of Americans support stand-your-ground laws. Support was highest among Republicans at 81% and independents at 57%, while 60% of Democrats said they opposed such laws.
People are more likely to carry guns in public in states with stand-your-ground laws, which also increases the risk of gun theft and violent confrontations, according to research cited in the Everytown report. These laws also are linked to higher rates of gun homicide among adolescents and more unintentional shootings involving children and young adults.
Researchers at Everytown analyzed FBI data from 2019 to 2023 and found that in stand-your-ground states, homicides involving white shooters and Black victims were ruled justifiable four times more often than when the roles were reversed. In Michigan, that disparity was more than twelvefold.
The report also cited research suggesting that in domestic violence cases, women who claimed self-defense were more likely to be convicted and received longer sentences compared to others.
Beyond the legal outcomes, gun homicides linked to stand-your-ground laws cost an estimated $11 billion annually, according to Everytown. That includes $500 million in direct taxpayer expenses tied to law enforcement, courts and medical care, the report says.
Stateline reporter Amanda Hernández can be reached at ahernandez@stateline.org.
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