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Enough almost to make me weep....
An article on a Florida TV station website over their no retreat requirement for self-defense.
It starts off citing a case where (if the facts recounted are true) there was zero argument for self-defense and no-retreat could have played no role, and the judge denied the motion to dismiss on that ground. This is supposedly a "gray area of self-defense." Yes, just as allowing a person to argue "I am not guilty" is a gray area of the law with no clear answer (and why we have juries).
"The law allows people to use deadly force when they fear death or great bodily harm." No, that's been the American rule for self defense since the 1830s. It's not a recent Florida innovation.
A Brady Campaign spokesman asks, ""If I steal from you, can you take my life? If I paint graffiti on your house, can you take my life?"" What has that to do with no retreat requirement?
"I'ts a choice she says is better left up to the justice system." Uh... we're talking about that.
The Brady spokesman "points to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that homicides in Florida increased 24% since the stand your ground law passed and firearm related killings increased 32%."
In 2005, the year the article says "stand your ground" passed (I have no time to verify it) Florida's murder rate was 5.0 and in 2015 it was 5.1. Its total violent crime rate went from 709 in 2005 to 462 in 2015 (same sourse), so I have idea where that claim could have come from.
All this data took about 15 minutes to verify. Why the person composing the report did not do so, I have no idea.
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