ACADEMIC VIEWPOINT
Florida and Concealed Handguns I
by Richard C. Hollinger, Ph.D. Dr. Hollinger is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He is also director of the Security Research Project, which annually conducts the National Retail Security Survey (soccrim.clas.ufl.edu/criminology/srp/srp.html). Dr. Hollinger can be reached at rhollin@ufl.edu or 352-294-7175. © 2012 Richard C. Hollinger
thwart an attack. Now the new law reverses that standard and immunizes an individual from criminal charges if he asserts he had a “reasonable” fear of personal harm. Florida’s stand-your-ground law applies wherever a person has a legal right to be, whether in his home, his car, his business, or on a public sidewalk.
live in Florida and once again I find that my state is in the center of the national debate on the right of citizens to defend themselves with firearms against street crime. Soon after my family moved to Florida during the summer of 1983, the infamous Bernard Goetz shooting took place in New York City. On December 22, 1984, Bernard Goetz shot four young black men who tried to mug him on a New York City subway train, resulting in his conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. Although none of his victims died, Bernard Goetz became known as the “subway vigilante” and came to symbolize frustrations with the high crime rates experienced in New York City during the early 1980s. The Goetz shooting sparked a nationwide debate on race and crime in major cities, as well as the legal limits of self-defense. As a result of this case the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun lobbies were able to wage successful campaigns to loosen state and local restrictions on the concealed carrying of firearms. It was revealed during the trial that the gun that Goetz used in his assault had been legally purchased in Florida and then taken to New York City where gun purchases and possession are much more strictly controlled.
Dueling Statistics
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Florida experienced an average of 34 “justifiable homicides” before 2005. Two years after the stand-your-ground law was enacted, the number jumped to more than 100. Similarly disturbing spikes have been found in other states with similar laws. According to an analysis of FBI data done by the office of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who co-chairs the 650-strong Mayors Against Illegal Guns organization, states that passed stand-your-ground laws experienced a 53.5 percent increase in “justifiable homicides” in the three years following enactment. States without such laws saw a 4.2 percent increase. The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys opposed stand-your-ground laws, arguing that they were unnecessary and likely a danger to public safety. In a 2007 report they foreshadowed the Trayvon Martin tragedy. “Although the spirit of the law may be to allow the public to feel safer, the expansions may instead create a sense of fear from others, particularly strangers,” the report said, concluding that enactment would have a “disproportionately negative effect on minorities, persons from lower socio-economic status, and young adults/juveniles” that are often unjustly stereotyped as suspects. According to the March 2012 update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers online resource, the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin is unfortunately only one example of at least 402 victims killed in thirty-two states since May 2007 in incidents involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns. VPC legislative director Kristen Rand states, “The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is the result of Florida’s gun laws that allow virtually anyone to carry a concealed loaded handgun in public. While Florida’s ‘shoot-first’ law is the reason that George Zimmerman has not been arrested, it’s Florida’s concealed-carry law that enabled Zimmerman to confront Trayvon Martin with a loaded handgun in the first place.” Despite the current national outrage over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Congress may soon act on legislation that would actually expand the ability of people like Zimmerman to carry their guns to virtually every state. Two bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 2188 and S. 2213) that would significantly expand the ability of concealed-carry permit holders to carry their
Stand-Your-Ground Laws
Florida is currently in the national news once again based upon the recent shooting of Trayvon Martin by a self-appointed neighborhood-watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, in his Sanford, Florida, townhouse community. Recordings of the 911 call made by Zimmerman to police show him following the 17-year-old, whom he described as suspicious and possibly high on drugs. Martin was unarmed when he was shot, but Zimmerman was not initially charged with a crime, in part because of Florida’s so-called “stand-your-ground law.” Florida enacted its stand-your-ground legislation in 2005, becoming the first of some twenty states to adopt similar measures. The law protects private individuals from prosecution if police determine they used deadly force in self-defense. This much is relatively uncontroversial, given that individuals have always had a right to defend themselves against attack. These protections are particularly strong if one is attacked inside one’s home, commonly known as the “castle doctrine.” What makes the stand-your-ground law so controversial is that it absolves the individual of any responsibility to consider other ways to avoid bodily harm. Before stand-your-ground laws, police and law enforcement officials assessed whether a “reasonable person” would have resorted to the level of violence used to
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May - June 2012
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