Stand Your Ground laws are probably some of the most misunderstood laws on the books. Take what the Wall Street Journal tried to say about them for a moment. There’s this idea that all you have to do is claim that your life was in danger, and you’re walking.
What’s more, some people in some places try to make a bigger thing out of Stand Your Ground laws applying to some situations when they actually don’t.
Take this piece. It’s not American, but it manages to get just about everything wrong here, starting with the headline that makes it very clear it’s about Stand Your Ground laws. I mean, it literally says, “America’s ‘Stand-Your-Ground’ Gun Laws Under Fire After Cleaner’s Death.”
Their example case is one out of Indiana, where a housekeeper, along with her husband, apparently tried to enter the wrong house in the wee hours of the morning, and got shot.
Maria Florinda Rios Perez, 32, was found dead in her husband’s arms on a porch in Whitestown, a suburb of Indianapolis, early Wednesday morning. Police had been called to what was reported as a possible break-in, but they later said the couple had not gone inside the home.
The case has been sent to the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office to decide if charges should be filed. Police have not named the homeowner or anyone else inside the house, saying the situation is “complex and delicate.” They also warned that false information about the shooting is spreading online.
Maria’s husband, Mauricio Velazquez, told CBS News he wanted justice for his wife, a mother of four originally from Guatemala. He said the bullet came through the door and that the homeowner should have called the police instead of shooting.
Well, Mr. Velasquez isn’t exactly a legal expert, so his claim that the homeowner should have called the police is largely irrelevant here. Especially when anyone with half a brain understands that if someone is breaking into your house, calling the police might be a fine strategy, just so long as you’re prepared to deal with the problem should they not arrive in time.
Now, I can see how this is “complex and delicate,” and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the homeowner charged, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him not charged, either. Based on what little I’ve seen, it could go either way.
But this is more of a Castle Doctrine thing, not Stand Your Ground. Castle Doctrine says you can defend your home without having to scamper away from a potential threat. Stand Your Ground applies pretty much anywhere else.
So while some people are trying to be critical of Indiana law here, they clearly don’t even understand which Indiana law actually applies.
Further, despite this particular piece–which is short–getting this wrong, they also include absolutely no one expressly criticizing Stand Your Ground laws. All it says is that the prosecutor said it was complicated by that law, but there’s no quote, link, or anything else, and I’m willing to bet he never actually used the words “stand your ground” when he mentioned the potential complications.
Look, if an innocent woman was shot and killed because of a good-faith mistake, then I hate it. I truly do. However, there’s always more to the story than you’re getting through some half-baked media report that focuses on a given law that is controversial for no reason at all. It does no one any favors, either here or abroad, to completely get just about every aspect of the laws in question wrong while not really even addressing the law itself.
Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.
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