For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Christopher Brown : 202.277.7886 : chris@secondchancecampaign.org

Tim Rusch : 917.399.0236 : tim@fitzgibbonmedia.com

ARCADIA, FLORIDA – On Tuesday, July 10, the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign urged the Florida Task Force on Citizen Safety to recommend reform or repeal of Florida’s Shoot First law. Second Chance on Shoot First coalition members issued the following statements:

Allie Braswell, President and CEO, Central Florida Urban League

“America isn’t a war zone, but when Shoot First is the law, people have more leeway to open fire then our soldiers on the battlefield. Our military knows that avoiding deadly violence when possible is the right thing to do, but under Shoot First private citizens don’t have that same responsibility.”

“Our military has the best-trained soldiers in the world, but civilians carrying guns are only required to have minimal or in some cases no training at all. Yet the Shoot First law gives them more leeway to shoot and kill private citizens, with less accountability.”

“It shouldn’t be easier to kill in America than in a war zone.”

Florida State Conference of the NAACP

“The Florida State Conference of the NAACP supports full repeal of the Stand Your Ground law in Florida, on the basis that it allows vigilante behavior to take place in our society without accountability under the law. As we’ve seen in the senseless killings of Trayvon Martin and others, this is a law that allows someone to use deadly force and literally get off scot-free. It must be ended.”

Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange Executive Director

“Today in Arcadia, the Florida officials tasked with reviewing ‘stand your ground’ will hear what members of the ColorOfChange community have been saying for months: This law does not help Floridians feel safe.”

“Instead, this law has become a symbol of law enforcement turning a blind eye while individuals pursue their own brand of vigilante justice. It’s time for ‘stand your ground’ to come off of Florida’s books, and ColorOfChange will continue to work to see that this happens.”

National Action Network

“National Action Network believes the Florida Statute 776 which is also known as the ‘Stand Your Ground Law’ is an unjust law whose vagueness allows for miscarriages of justice, both as it pertains to those who are deemed to be in defense of themselves and those who are called perpetrators. As we saw in the Trayvon Martin and in Marissa Alexander cases, there is not a standard set of rules in the application of this law. The rights of all need to be considered and protected and as the law stands, they are not. There is no way for an individual who potentially can assert a claim of self-defense to know if his or her ‘reasonable belief’ of imminent death or bodily harm complies with the unknown Florida judicial standard. The Florida statue does not provide any statutory guidelines or definitions as to what would be deemed ‘reasonable’.”

Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights Under Law

“The ‘stand your ground’ laws signify a significant departure from the more traditional ‘Castle doctrine’ which imposes a duty to retreat in a public setting. The ‘stand your ground’ laws thwart the justice system so early in the process a judge is able to throw out a homicide case before it ever reaches a jury. This is a dangerous precedent to set and contributes to the atmosphere of vigilante justice in our society. The Lawyers’ Committee is proud to be a part of the Second Chance coalition and we will work tirelessly to repeal these destructive laws.”

The Second Chance on Shoot First Campaign, launched by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a coalition of civil rights groups including the NAACP, the National Urban League, Color of Change, National Action Network, the Lawyers Committee on Civil and Human Rights and VoteVets, mobilized over 250,000 members to stop new Shoot First laws and push for reform legislation across the country.

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