LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska would become one of the last Republican-led states to enact a so-called “stand your ground” law under a bill presented to a legislative committee on Thursday.
State Sen. Brian Hardin, of Scottsbluff, said he brought the bill at the urging of his constituents and to keep residents who use deadly force while defending themselves from facing prosecution.
“This bill would ensure that we’re not revictimizing a person who’s already been a victim of a crime,” Hardin said. “It should be difficult to put someone in jail who was protecting himself.”
Nebraska is among a handful of states where the law says a person has a duty to retreat from threat if they can do so safely before using deadly force, with the exception of a person’s home or workplace. Thirty-eight states — including all six of Nebraska’s neighboring states — have stand your ground laws.
The concept came under national scrutiny in the 2012 fatal shooting of a Black teenager from Florida, Trayvon Martin, by a neighborhood watch volunteer who was following him. The volunteer, George Zimmerman, was later acquitted after a trial in which his attorneys essentially used the law as a defense.