'Stand Your Ground' - A Cause for Concern

I couldn't help but get a little angry when I was looking through my newsfeed today. One of my Facebook "friends" had posted a link to a video with the caption "guns are a bad thing? it may have saved this veterans life."The sarcastic poster was in support of the right to bear arms. 

Watching this video and saying guns are a good things seems backwards to me. When I watched this video it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen: two men with guns, one protecting his things, the other trying to steal his things. It is remarkable that both of them were left unharmed.

While the veteran used the gun to threaten the robber. I believe that guns are ultimately a source of a lot of violence in America. I believe they take more lives than they save. In this case, they were both lucky enough to leave unharmed. But imagine if the robber never put his gun down. Imagine if he decided to try and continue his robbery. This story would have turned out a lot different.

There is a law called 'Stand Your Ground' and it basically means that if someone intrudes on your property and you can defend yourself and respond aggressively to the intruder; whereas you used to be told to try and retreat or flee the scene.

This is a controversial law because many people think this will lead to more homicides. And studies have shown that it does.  In a study done by Texas A&M researchers, it compares homicide rates in states with 'Stand Your Ground' with states that don't have 'Stand Your Ground.' As you can see, states with the 'Stand Your Ground' legislation experienced an increase of homicides. 

As you can see homicide rates went up in states that have the 'Stand Your Ground' act. Hoekstra (the creator of this study) said "We find that there are 500 to 700 more homicides per year across the 23 states as a result of the laws."

When discussing gun violence in America most people think to the 2nd Amendment: the right to bear arms. The creators of the constitution allowed the right to bear arms to protect the citizens of the United States. But when gun violence is taking more lives than it is saving, people must question if the right to bear arms is a safe law to keep in America.

I understand people want to defend themselves, but gun violence is taking its toll on America. With an annual 14,000 deaths per year because of guns, americans are worried. What do you think about the gun violence in america?