Exploring the effect of Stand Your Ground laws on homicide and violent crime in the United States, 1990-2020

• In Event: Exploring the role of contextual and legal factors influencing interpersonal gun violence

Abstract

The duty to retreat has historically been used to limit an individual’s use of lethal force if there is a possibility to safely retreat. However, since 1994, a majority of states have passed Stand Your Ground Laws, also known as Shoot First Laws, which have taken away the duty to retreat and arguably encourage the use of deadly force in the name of self-defense. Prior research has largely debated whether the presence of Stand Your Ground Laws provide states with more risk than reward, as some argue that these laws reduce violence and others argue that they promote violence. The current study uses negative binomial regressions with fixed effects and generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine the effect of stand your ground legislation on the incidence rate of homicide and other violent crimes in the 50 U.S. states from 1990 to 2020. The findings from this study suggest that Stand Your Ground Laws have differential effects depending on the type of crime that is being examined. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Authors

• Shayna Arrigo, Florida State University

• Emma Fridel, Florida State University