Crane 1

Nathan Crane

Ms.Bradshaw

Senior Writing

19 March 2019

Stand Your Ground Laws

How many people have died in Stand Your Ground cases or self-defense? Understanding

one’s rights to protect themselves can prevent these potential deaths. As citizens, there is always

a concern about self-defense. Currently, many states have Stand Your Ground laws. This paper

will address how it affects them, and the difference between Stand Your Ground laws and self

defense.

In a situation where someone has to defend themselves or their family, they should know

what is legal or not. The situation varies when location is taken into account. When a person in a

public place, is violently assaulted, they may repel by force. If in the reasonable exercise of his

right of self-defense his assailant is killed, then he is justified (Roberts). If someone has the right

to be there and there is a possible assault, they have the right to use force. For example,

someone’s house is broken into and the owner gets attacked. Naturally, the victim pulls out their

weapon and protects themselves against the intruder. They are justified because the owner of the

home is protecting their property. Some states require the public to retreat before using force. On

the other hand, since 2005, eighteen states in the United States have passed laws extending the

right to self-defense with no duty to retreat (Brennan). People who disagree feel these laws give

too much room to use deadly force. This is expanding how one can protect oneself outside of

their property, which has an affect on a law-abiding citizen. “A man's home is his castle” proves
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he has the right to protect that castle(Quoted in Mclellan). Basically, stating that the owner has

no duty to retreat when inside their home, and can defend themselves if being attacked.

Stand Your Ground laws differ in different states. When traveling, knowing where the

laws differ is important. Since these laws involve potential safety of one’s family, understanding

them is essential. A lot of these laws went into effect after 9/11(Brennan). The country’s safety

was threatened and citizens were concerned about self-defense. 28 to 33 additional white males

are killed each month as a result of these differential Stand Your Ground laws(Brennan). People

with the opposing view believe stand your ground laws give too much freedom to private

citizens to use deadly force. Within these measures, the law can be seen as giving them a license

to kill rather than a protective measure(Brennan). People who disagree argue that retreating

against an intruder is passive and can end up being the reason someone dies. This is a common

argument of the opposing viewpoint, but watching a potentially harmful event is a worse

outcome than taking action.

Stand Your Ground laws often relate to self defense. Safety is the number one concern

within both topics. There are some key differences between (SYGL) and self-defense, but first,

certain words like deadly force need to be defined. Deadly force is the degree of force that

would be reasonably calculated to death or serious bodily harm (Roberts). Deadly force can also

be used to defend property (Roberts). One can only protect with Deadly Force on their own

property depending on location. This law was added to protect citizens inside their own homes.
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“The castle doctrine states that one is justified in using deadly force in self-defense within his

own home (Roberts).” Self-defense is the right to protect yourself if attacked. An example would

be sleeping comfortably in one’s home and hearing the car alarm go off. Despite the violation of

personal property, since there is no physical danger, he/she are not legally allowed to draw a

weapon and shoot the assailant . They are allowed to confront the assailant and use reasonable

force to stop the theft and/or to pursue and retrieve personal property “(Roberts). This quote is an

example of self-defense and how it differs from Stand Your Ground laws. It clearly identifies

what one is allowed and not allowed to do with in the law.

Now that the difference between Stand Your Ground laws and self defense have been

determined, it is easy to see how they correlate. If one were able to alter these laws, giving the

victim more time to retreat before the use of Deadly force would be considerate. A opposed

victim would be less likely to retreat. Some of the main topics such as the castle doctrine support

self defense. If ever put in harm’s way, knowing what one’s rights are can save a life.
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Works Cited

Brennan, Jason. "When Nonviolence Isn't Enough: DOES THE RIGHT TO

SELF-DEFENSE APPLY AGAINST AGENTS OF THE STATE?" Reason, Jan. 2019,

p.

36+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A566401739/GPS?u=musk63060&sid=GPS&x

id=90f1f53d. Accessed 2 May 2019.

Roberts, Joshua K. "Deadly force and the right of self-defense: stand your ground laws."

Inside Homeland Security, Winter 2012, p. 98+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A345774544/GPS?u=musk63060&sid=GPS&x

id=f02a7ce5. Accessed 19 Apr. 2019.

Tappan, Nancy. "America's Stand on Self-Defense." American History, Oct. 2017, pp.
16-17. SIRS Issues Researcher,​https://sks.sirs.com​.