Florida lawmakers must repeal destructive ‘stand your ground'
This year, I held a special screening of the docuseries “Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story.” As I am the mother of three sons, Trayvon’s death has always hit close to home. Trayvon could easily have been any one of my sons, an unarmed young man with so much promise shot and killed in the prime of his life because he was viewed as “suspicious.”
I know many of us watched this series with our families and discussed the issues raised both locally and nationally. For me, it was another heartbreaking reminder of the need to repeal the reckless “stand your ground” law that Florida lawmakers passed in 2005.
Trayvon’s death was not an anomaly in Florida. In 2013 the Tampa Bay Times found that at least 26 children and teens have been killed since 2005 in our state because of stand your ground. This is a law that is killing our children and disproportionately affects communities of color. Research shows that Florida stand your ground cases are half as likely to lead to a conviction when the victim is a person of color compared to cases with white victims.
We were tragically reminded yet again of the pain this law can cause a few months ago when an unarmed black man, Markeis McGlockton, was shot and killed during an argument over a parking spot in Clearwater. As news of this shooting unfolded, I was once again reminded of the pain and suffering that another family would go through. All Florida residents should be concerned about this law — next time, it could be your mother, father, child or friend whose life is cut short for no good reason.
“To Protect and Serve” was the defining motto of my life for 27 years, starting when I first joined the Orlando Police Department as a beat cop to my eventual role as chief of police for the same department. Now that I have the honor to represent my community as its member of Congress, I have continued to keep this motto in mind every day.
That’s why it’s been painful for me to watch local lawmakers continue to put our state’s safety at risk by refusing to seriously discuss repealing Florida’s disastrous stand your ground law. This discriminatory law increases violent crime and flies in the face of our duty as public servants to protect public safety. During my time in law enforcement, I have seen firsthand that this law does little to protect or serve the interests of Floridians.
A stand your ground law makes it acceptable to shoot first and ask questions later. Defending one’s home is one thing — there’s no room for error when you’re at home and unable to retreat. But stand your ground goes too far by extending this principle to every public space, giving citizens leeway to shoot, and kill, another person if they believe it is necessary for their own safety — even when they could safely retreat. Florida was one of the first states to pass this law, and we now know it’s done little to deter crime. In fact, since the law was signed, homicides deemed justifiable have tripled. This is a controversial law that permits armed vigilantism.
Given that our stand your ground law was drafted hand in hand with the gun lobbyists, it’s no wonder that this extremist law has done little to protect everyday citizens. In Tallahassee, the gun lobby’s leadership has demonstrated little interest in actually protecting our communities and has instead pushed forward dangerous proposals that jeopardize the public’s safety.
In fact, last year when given the chance to mitigate some of the harm of this dangerous policy, Gov. Rick Scott and state legislators chose to expand the law and make it more difficult for individuals to be prosecuted during shootings if they raise a defense under stand your ground. Now prosecutors must prove the law does not apply before a case can even be brought to trial, making Florida the only state in the country that requires prosecutors to bear this burden.
I grew up around guns and used to go hunting with my father. I own one today, and I support responsible gun ownership. But, given my career in law enforcement, I also worry about untrained people being permitted to go around shooting people and loosely claim self-defense. It makes the job of law enforcement a lot more difficult when people refuse to retreat from a dangerous situation and cause unnecessary violence.
Law enforcement will tell you if we truly want to avoid violence, we need to be smart on crime and enact common-sense gun policies. Stand your ground is neither.
Throughout my career I have fought to keep my community safe. It’s time Florida’s lawmakers do the same and repeal stand your ground in the next legislative session.