The anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety highlighted in a recent email to supporters a new study that supposedly claims “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws are racist and result in more homicides and violent crime.
The study, according to Everytown, “concludes the laws do not improve public safety and have led to increases in violent crime and homicide in Florida and other states.” In addition, “the review… also highlighted evidence of racial bias in the outcomes of cases where someone invokes a ‘Stand Your Ground’ defense.”
There’s just one problem: the study in question proves none of these things. Instead, it found almost no evidence that SYG laws increase violent crime and even less evidence that their outcomes are determined by racial bias.
“Overall, expanding rights and protections for the use of deadly force in self-defense outside the home had an average null to small positive association with firearm homicide, total homicide, robberies, and aggravated assaults across the United States,” the study finds.
Later, it concludes, “The weight of this evidence suggests that expanding civilian rights to use deadly force in self-defense outside the home is associated with, at most, modest increases, on average, in the rates of violent crime (including total and firearm homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery) across the United States.”
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Researchers compiled data from 25 studies that investigated the effect of stand your ground laws in the U.S. While one study found a significant increase in violent crime in Florida, another study found a reduction in homicides following the passage of SYG laws. Everytown conveniently chose not to include that piece of information in their email.
The anti-gun group also chose not to mention how SYG laws are supposedly racist. Most readers would likely assume that SYG laws are racist because white people use them to get away with killing black people.
In reality, researchers found “evidence” of racial bias in the Florida court system when the victim is white and the perpetrator is a racial minority. In other words, Florida judges are more likely to deny a racial minority’s SYG defense if the victim is white.
This may indicate a problem with the criminal justice system in Florida, but it’s unclear why SYG laws contribute to that inequality.
Everytown isn’t alone in overstating the study’s findings. Even the study’s author engages in hyperbole when describing the conclusions of his own study.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: The ‘Independent’ News Outlet Secretly Funded by Everytown for Gun Safety
“The accumulated evidence is remarkably consistent and suggests that these laws are both harmful and inequitable,” lead author Dr. David Humphreys said in a press release. “These findings should act as an alarm bell for states thinking of enacting these laws.”
Dr. Humphreys likely felt compelled to make this assessment because his study was bankrolled by the Joyce Foundation, whose grant program seeks to support “stronger policies to reduce gun violence and reform how the justice system deals with young, non-violent gun offenders,” according to its 2019 tax filings.
“Gun violence is one of the central health and safety challenges of our time, with more than 110,000 Americans injured or killed by guns every year,” the Foundation claims.
In 2019, the Joyce Foundation gave over $7 million to fund “gun violence prevention and judicial reforms.”
Click here to read the study for yourself.
Now you have Private 501 (3) C (Charities) corporations helping the Police to Strip you of your Rights. I wish they Hated Meth Dealers as Much as they do Gun Shops
I am confused as to how this is ” racist ” , if it were
to be used against a person of the same ” race ” . Are we
all not of the same ” race” , that being ” human ” ?
By defending oneself, does that mean that one is inherently
a ” racist ” ? Whom is it that has the omnipotent power to
determine who is ” racist ” , and whom is not ?
I’m sorry , I do not understand this – nor do I wish to !
Another reason for the left to call me a racist. I’ll proudly wear it as a badge of honor.
The study is from Everytown for “Gun Safety” so it must be a false bunch of BS. ALL they want to do is take away your rights to defend yourself, your family, and others, and take away your guns, because guns are evil and cause so much death. The guns just get up and shoot things/people. Of course, it’s NOT the poor, misguided individual who uses the gun to commit crime. They are the VICTIM, not the person(s) who are the object of the crime. If you believe they are not the victim, you are RACIST. That is a bunch of BULLSH*T!! The perpetrator is the only one who is at fault. THEY decided to commit the crime, THEY decided to use a weapon, THEY decided who the VICTIM would be. THEY ARE NOT THE VICTIM. WE need to stand up for what is right and defend the REAL victims of crime.
These people are really starting to get on my nerves. Everybody’s a racist; there is no escaping it. Meanwhile Doomberg stands there holding up an “Everytown” sign, grinning like a possum eating garbage in the moonlight with his gaggle of useful idiots and lemmings clustered all around him. Push, push, push, push, push, push, push . . . This cannot go on for much longer before somebody starts pushing back.
This is what’s wrong with country if you don’t like something it is racist, what does racist have to do with anything accept the DEMs that want to keep people divide. If I don’t like that car or that song, I’m racist.
that SYG laws are racist because white people use them to get away with killing black people. statement tell us who behind the crimes. black matters and black people need to put an end to crimes.
if I was injured because I could not use this law. I hope you join me in a lawsuit a cause Mike Bloomberg’s Everytown group.
Everytown and many other so called ‘Gun Control’ organizations have never really stated their “real pin-pointed” motives or objectives and therefore have been unable to derive a true plan to accomplish them. Their plans seem to evolve around slogans based upon false reporting, manipulated or mis-interpretated fact sand ideals geared toward an appeal to your support through sympathy.
They have never, to my knowledge, stated that : their are bad people out there and those people are the ones causing the trouble, 2. when they get their hands on a weapon/firearm the cause fear, damage and death and 3. they should be identified and actions taken to not allow them to get, have or own a gun, 4. their are millions of people who have acquired weapons by following the legal procedures and are responsible gun owners following all Federal and State Laws, 5. those owners of weapons have rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution and cannot be infringed upon except through the Amendment Process listed in the Constitution, 6 therefore, the problem is not with the vast majority of legal weapons owners but with the criminal sub-culture the individuals of which must be identified by name, location, etc. and restricted from acquiring weapons; that should be the stated goal of all organizations looking to reform the gun control laws, identify the criminals, identify their sources, cutoff their sources and remove from society any and all of those violators by placing them in jail forever.
“Illegal gets as illegal does.” Break into my house or threaten me or mine… the EMT’s can take their time coming to retrieve your remains. As a husband, father, human being, I am charged with the defense of myself and those I am responsible to and for. Always has been and always will be. Some people are not of the mindset to perform at that obligation. Police can … CAN do it for them…. if you want to wait for them to show up and do their duty. With the stupid “Defund the Police” movement, where are the police going to come from? The foolishness of Liberals, Democrats, Socialists, Bleeding Hearts of all persuasions, whew… you have no choice except to “step up to the plate” and do that which is required. You cannot count on someone else to do it for you. Would it make me feel good.. no! But.. self defense is not about feeling good, it is about protecting yourself and others and your property. Do the crime….. get shot!
What isn’t racist to a liberal democrat?
There’s probably more black on black shooting crimes in chicago in a weekend than in a month in most other areas in the U.S.
Why do these groups bother criminals don’t vote
Great question. I suspect this is because the criminals’ moms, dads, sisters, brother, aunts, uncle, cousins, and local community members do vote; and anybody on the ticket who includes “reforming systemic racism” on their political agenda (no matter how ill informed) is going to get a flood of these BLM votes. Politicians don’t even need solutions to problems anymore to gain public confidence. They only need to provide soundbites that tell these special interest groups that they will throw away reason and commons sense, and they will support initiatives based solely on public sentiment and groupthink. The message is loud and clear, follow the progressive revolution or get cancelled.
Also, I’m sure that any cancel culture sheep out there reading my previous comment will most certainly read it and dismiss me as a racist. The “racist” label seems to be one of the strongest tools available to the so called “progressives.” They want us to all believe that American society has devolved to the state of affairs that existed in the 1950s. They conveniently ignore obvious incongruencies like the election and reelection of Barack Obama, and they isolate the actions of a minority of white Americans like Derek Chauvin and paint these actions as if all police and all of America are “systemically racist.” Any objective party can see straight through these claims, but the silent majority is forced to remain silent about common sense interpretation of these claims because of the crushing threat of the “racist” label and the ensuing storm of cancel culture that will reign down on them for simply opening their mouths.
You force your way into my home I don’t care if your frigging green with hot pink and orange spots, your ass is shot!!
As for outside the home, I will give a warning while backing up, but, I will also shoot your ass if you push the issue!!!
In most states a warning shot is illegal. Please check your state’s regulations to be sure then protect the hell out of you and your family until there is no longer a threat.
If you break into my house, I don’t care what color you are.
Don’t go hunting for logic in this. This is a group of people. They want to strip a right from 328 million people because .03% of the population is impacted by firearms.
The solution to violent crime is employment with a decent wage and ending the drug war.
The only reason they say it’s racist is because the majority of scumbag criminals shot lawfully are their supporters. Criminals, minorities, white pansy apologists, and liberals are the bulk of violent criminals in America. 12.9% commits 51% of all violent crime in America. Those are hard facts. Remember the truth isn’t racist, it’s the truth. Wether you like it or not.
This is so wrong in so many ways I don’t know where to begin, but let’s hit a couple of points. Self defense is a historically established principle. If you don’t want to be injured or killed while committing a criminal act Don’t commit the criminal act!!!!! This is common sense and has nothing to do with race. Secondly; serious, authoritative research is NOT funded by sources that have a stake in the results. Good Grief how hard is that to understand. Even if the research is handled correctly, which in this case it was not, the research results are tainted by the association. But the reality is nothing you say, nothing you prove, nothing you do will change the minds of the liberal, progressive bent on finding a way to take your rights. Because it’s not about safety, race, equality or common sense. It’s about power and control by the few over the many.
Really this stupid beyond stupid. How can they even say this. It seems like ever time a liberal wants something the bring race in to the equation an this has to stop. So what the are saying is because a black breaks into m home an he get shot I am a racist really. Let me tell you this I could careless if you are black green red blue an color you break into my home or endanger me or my family you are going out the door in a body bag. what the are telling black people is that out commit a great deal of crime and because of this people who defend themselves are killing more black people. Well that is natural because if green people were committing more crime then more green people would be dying. Their argument doesn’t hold water but it rings of trying to win back the black vote that have been losing more and more of over the last several election cycles. Really all people of color are to a Democrat is a vote nothing more nothing less. People are realizing that in the black American community and the Democrats what to stop the bleeding of votes to other parties. That is all this is about