10 Infamous Quotes About Stand Your Ground Laws

Ever wondered what a certain person had said or who said what about stand your ground laws? Some statements against stand your ground laws made in the aftermath of the trial in Trayvon Martin’s death were very controversial, and overshadowed the tragedy itself. Here are a few notable – or infamous – memorable expressions:

 

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

“If Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?… when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

 

FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER:
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER

“It’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods. These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if no safe retreat is available. But we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common-sense, age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely. By allowing and perhaps encouraging violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety.”

 

RELATED: Crazy Gun Laws That Put Our Lives at Risk

 

REP. DAVID GUTTENBURG
ALASKA STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GUTTENBURG

“The law just allows people to go on the offensive…it doesn’t do what people think it does, and people will get the idea that they can shoot people wherever they want. I just think we went too far.”

 

FLORIDA SENATOR GERALDINE THOMPSON
FLORIDA SENATOR GERALDINE THOMPSON

“Florida has to fix this problem because Florida created this problem with the kind of law that we placed on the books, so we have to change the law or we are going to see more Trayvon Martins.”

 

Ohio State Rep. Alicia Reece
OHIO STATE REPRESENTATIVE ALICIA REECE 

“Stand your ground would do nothing but turn our state into the Wild, Wild West.”

 

FORMER MIAMI POLICE CHIEF TIMONEY
FORMER MIAMI POLICE CHIEF JOHN TIMONEY

“Whether it’s trick-or-treaters or kids playing in the yard of someone who doesn’t want them there or some drunk guy stumbling into the wrong house, you’re encouraging people to possibly use deadly physical force where it shouldn’t be used.”

 

Michael_R_Bloomberg
FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

(photo credit: Rubenstein – originally posted to Flickr as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9652718)

“‘Shoot-first’ laws like those in Florida can inspire dangerous vigilantism and protect those who act recklessly with guns. Such laws – drafted by gun lobby extremists in Washington – encourage deadly confrontations by enabling people to shoot first and argue ‘justifiable homicide’ later.” 

 

IRAQ WAR VETERAN JON STOLTZ
IRAQ WAR VETERAN  JON STOLTZ

“These laws give anyone with a gun more permissive rules of engagement in America’s communities than our troops have on the battlefield.”

 

Stevie_Wonder
ENTERTAINER  STEVIE WONDER

“I decided today that until the Stand Your Ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again.”

 

RICHARD ESKOW
RICHARD ESKOW, AUTHOR

“The laws are also more permissive than 19th-century law, despite the fact that dueling remained legal until 1859, when most states outlawed it. Unlike Stand Your Ground, both parties in a duel were armed and had an equal chance of success. Duels were also voluntary, whereas a person who is shot under Stand Your Ground has no choice in the matter.”

 

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