Stand your ground law - Research Paper Example

Controversies surrounding the SYG law have off late attracted the nations debate. From 2005, eighteen states have enacted the law extending the self-defense right without retreating to any place an individual has the right to be, and other several additional States are looking forward to passing the same law. With all these implications, of the threat to public safety, less has been done to research on the effect of the law on people’s security. There is some recorded data at the statistical agencies in U.S. to study the prevalence of homicides.

The data from these agencies indicate that the increasing number of homicides is attributed to the SYG law (Yu 119). There is no evidence given by any agency as to why there is an increase in homicides in blacks. The statutes referred to as Stand Your Ground (SYG) allows one to use force, even lethal one in self-defense, in an event of reasonable threat with no duty to first retreat. The right to defend individuals home from any intruder with no obligation to retreat is apparently protected by Castle Doctrine.

The difference with the new laws is that they exceed the Castle Doctrine to the places like the workplace, vehicle or anywhere else; this limits the duty to retreat (Skiba 21). Since the time Florida passed the law in 2005, other seventeen states have introduced the SYG law with proportions allowing immunity from criminal prosecution when one uses deadly defense force in areas beyond their homes. With significant help from the National Association of Riffles, the users of SYG law say that they cannot support crime on the same.

They also say that citizens who abide by the law should be able to protect themselves from attackers or intruders without the worry of being prosecuted. It is also postulated that the great increase in concerns about public safety came after the 2001 terrorist attacks and Katrina of 2005, which led to