Florida voters 'stand their ground' amid recent scrutiny of the law
theGRIO REPORT - As the Trayvon Martin case continues to play out in court, a new poll reveals that residents of Florida stand behind their "Stand Your Ground" law...
As the Trayvon Martin case continues to play out in court, a new poll has revealed that residents of Florida stand behind their “Stand Your Ground” law. The majority of registered voters in the state of Florida still support the state’s controversial law at a margin of 56-35 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. The poll was taken from a pool of 1,722 registered voters by phone over a 5-day period last week. The results showed 78 percent of Republicans surveyed support the law as opposed to 59 percent of Democrats. Additionally, 61 percent of white respondents, 30 percent of black respondents and 53 percent of Hispanic respondents also support the law.
The “Stand Your Ground” law has been the center of the Trayvon Martin case. This landmark case involved Martin being shot by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman, who reported that Martin looked “suspicious”. Zimmerman was not arrested for six weeks after this incident when police cited the “Stand Your Ground” law, which removes a person’s duty to retreat from an assailant and allows the use of deadly force in any place a person has a right to be.
“Despite the controversy, public opinion seems to be solidly behind ‘Stand Your Ground’ and slightly against stricter gun control,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
The Quinnipiac poll also showed a split on stricter gun control. Seventy-three percent of Democrats support it, while only 22 percent of Republicans do.
The only thing it seems registered voters out of Florida do agree on is that concealed guns should not be allowed in the Capitol building, which has the approval of 83 percent.
Follow Marquise Francis on Twitter @mKfly
