A couple of weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an extremely biased news article on Stand Your Ground laws. Dr. John Lott and Professor Carl Moody both submitted letters to the editor on it. Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal didn’t publish either of our letters. The crime data that shows the murder rates fell by over 8 percent in the five years after Stand Your Ground laws are adopted is available here.
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Dear Letters Editor:
Your article on Stand Your Ground laws (“Six Words Every Killer Should Know: ‘I Feared for My Life, Officer,’” October 29) is filled with errors. The article reports that a judge dismissed second-degree murder charges against Edward Druzolowski because he believed “such force was reasonably necessary to defend himself from Mr. Ford’s imminent use of unlawful force.” But that’s not the full legal standard. The law requires that a reasonable third party believe the defendant faced a serious risk of injury or death from the attack.
The article also completely overlooks a key point. While justifiable homicides have risen as more people can defend themselves, the same FBI data it cites show that murder and violent crime rates fell over the same period between 2019 and 2024. When laws make it riskier for criminals to attack others — by allowing potential victims to defend themselves — there are fewer crime victims.
Lives were saved.
Sincerely,
John R. Lott, Jr.
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Dear Letters Editor:
Critics argue that Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws make it easier to kill someone and avoid punishment (“Six Words Every Killer Should Know: ‘I Feared for My Life, Officer,’” October 29). They point to evidence showing that states with Stand Your Ground laws record more justified homicides – self defense cases — than states without them. But this result may simply mean people are better able to protect themselves and their families in Stand Your Ground states.
In non-Stand Your Ground states, there may be more unjustified homicides that could have been prevented if victims had been able to defend themselves. Homicides include both justifiable homicides and murders (unjustified homicides). Presumably one cares about what happens to murders, not total homicides. And in the first five years after adoption, murder rates dropped on average by more than 8 percent.
Sincerely,
Carl Moody
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Here is the data on the change in murder rates after Stand Your Ground laws are adopted.
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