Most Floridians Support "Stand your Ground" Law

image
Published: 16 Jul, 2012
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read
Credit: Mason-Dixon

A recent poll conducted by the Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Firm, found most Floridians support the controversial "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law.

Eight hundred registered Florida voters were polled and most are likely to vote in November's presidential election. More than 64% of the voters agreed that the state's 2005 "Stand Your Ground" law should remain the same.

According to the poll, 18% of Floridians would like the law to be repealed, 16% would like the law to be modified, while 2% are not sure.

The "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida allows for a person to use force in self-defense when there is a reasonable threat. The law has received critical attention nationwide after the recent Trayvon Martin controversy. On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch coordinator shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin at point-blank range.

In regards to the Trayvon Martin shooting, voters seesaw between whether George Zimmerman was acting in self-defense or not.

Questions from critics and local residents arose following the tragedy as to the application of the "Stand your Ground" statute. Critics say the law has allowed criminals to escape justice, and that it is not applied fairly to all races.

"Only 6 percent of black voters believe Zimmerman was acting in self-defense, while 82 percent said he was not, the poll found. Hispanics were the most likely to agree with Zimmerman’s self-defense claim, with 52 percent saying he was justified, compared to 50 percent of whites," according to the Miami Herald.

In addition to calls to rewrite the "Stand Your Ground", Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, are working closely with Second Chance on Shoot First campaign, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the NAACP and the National Urban League in order to argue the conditions of the law. They argue that those who initiate a confrontation should not be protected under the "Stand Your Ground" law.

IVP Donate

They have presented a petition to the state task force with more than 300,000 signatures demanding changes to the law.

 

 

Latest articles

A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Marijuana plant.
Why the War on Cannabis Refuses to Die: How Boomers and the Yippies Made Weed Political
For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American physicians freely prescribed cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments. But by the mid-twentieth century, federal officials were laying the groundwork for a sweeping criminal crackdown. Cannabis would ultimately be classified as a Schedule I substance, placed alongside heroin and LSD, and transformed into a political weapon that shaped American policy for the next six decades....
30 Jun, 2025
-
2 min read