Why Are People, and Rats, Ticklish?

Homicide rates rise after introduction of 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense law

                                                                       

A change in self-defence laws in Florida which gave citizens the right to use lethal force to protect themselves in public has been linked with the state's homicide rates going up by nearly a quarter, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The research, led by the University of Oxford with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania, looked at homicide rates before and after the enactment of State Bill 436, known as the Stand Your Ground law, which was signed by Governor Jeb Bush in 2005.

Before 2005, Florida's so-called 'Castle doctrine' allowed the use of lethal force in situations where individuals believed there was an imminent threat of death or serious physical harm from an intruder within their own home. The 2005 Bill extended the 'no duty to retreat' clause of the Castle doctrine, giving individuals immunity for using lethal force to defend themselves in public places, as well as on private property.

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