JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement condemning SB 1037, which would make Missouri the first new Stand Your Ground state since Trayvon Martin’s murder in 2012. Stand Your Ground laws, or “shoot first” laws, embolden people to shoot to kill even when they could have safely resolved a conflict by other means.
“Passing a Stand Your Ground bill here in Missouri would be dangerous and an embarrassment to our state,” said Becky Morgan, volunteer Chapter Leader of the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action who testified today at the Capitol. “Across the country states have tried this experiment and the results are deadly, particularly for communities of color. We should focus instead on keeping guns away from dangerous people, not passing bills that turn everyday conflicts into fatal shootouts.”
Everytown for Gun Safety research has shown that Stand Your Ground states have on average experienced a 53 percent increase in homicides deemed justifiable in the years following passage of the law, compared with a five percent decrease in states without Stand Your Ground statutes during the same period. And a 2012 study by researchers at Texas A&M found that Stand Your Ground laws are associated with a clear increase in homicides, resulting in 700 more homicides nationwide each year.
