The George Zimmerman trial brought self-defense laws in general, and so-called ‘stand your ground’ laws in particular, into focus, and the reaction to the verdict has included calls from many on the political left for such laws to be reexamined and, in the case of ‘stand your ground’ laws, repealed outright. According to a new poll, though, a majority of Americans support ‘stand your ground’ laws, although there are some unsurprising differences among the races:
A majority of Americans support controversial “stand your ground” laws, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along racial lines.
Voters back the self-defense laws 53 percent to 40 percent, according to a new poll from Quinnipiac, but when broken down by race, black and white voters have opposite views. White voters support such laws in their state 57 percent to 37 percent, while black voters oppose the laws 57 percent to 37 percent. Hispanic voters are split, with 44 percent supporting the laws and 43 percent opposing.
In reality, of course, this is a state by state issue and, with some 38 states having some form of a ‘stand your ground’ law, it seems exceedingly unlikely that any kind of nationwide repeal movement is going to have very much political momentum.
