TO DO: Stand Your Ground Laws
Source: CREDO

http://act.credoaction.com/letter/senate_stand_your_ground/?akid=8889.4584760.yJFHy5&rd=1&t=2

Tell Senate committee members: End “Stand Your Ground”

"Stand Your Ground" and other Shoot First laws lead to tragedy, as we witnessed in the case of Trayvon Martin.

Now Congress is investigating the devastating impact of these laws. On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will be holding a hearing to consider how these laws have spread and what effect they've had on civil rights and public safety.¹

Senator Dick Durbin, the chair of the committee, is seeking testimony about these laws for committee members to consider. This is an important opportunity to show support for repeal of these deadly laws.

Submit your testimony telling the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to stand up to the NRA and stop the spread of Stand Your Ground laws.

The NRA, backed by gun manufacturers and politicians associated with the shadowy right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), helped shepherd Shoot First laws through dozens of states.² These laws dangerously offer a legal stamp of approval to a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality.

Throw in the eye-popping number of concealed-carry permits (which now stands at 8 million nationally) and lax gun laws generally, and you have a dangerous recipe for unnecessarily violent, often fatal, conflict.³

In Florida, for example, the rate of "justifiable" homicides has tripled since the state passed its Shoot First law, in 2005.⁴ Now it's time for the public to push back against these dangerous laws.

Thank you for standing up to the NRA.

Send a public comment

Tell the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights (for sample message, see below):

By submitting this form, your name, address and comments will be filed with a public agency and become public record.

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Sample Message: 

Dear Senators:

I’m concerned about the proliferation of Shoot First laws. Florida’s "Stand Your Ground” legislation, made infamous as George Zimmerman’s successful defense for murdering Trayvon Martin, and other laws like it undermine public safety by putting people at risk of gun violence. 

The Shoot First principle as codified into law in Florida and other states encourages people to act like armed vigilantes, using deadly force even if a violent confrontation can be avoided. These laws make our communities significantly more dangerous.

Stand Your Ground laws are also a hindrance to justice. Over 70% of people who have invoked Florida’s Stand Your Ground law have gone free, including George Zimmerman, who one juror said “got away with murder.” 

Congress must stand up to the NRA — whose only interest is creating more reasons for people to buy guns — by invalidating these laws and passing sensible gun violence prevention legislation.