Amidst Rising Crime, Matt Gaetz Leads The Way In Pushing For A Federal Stand Your Ground Law - 'No American Should Ever Be Under The Duty To Retreat'

Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Thursday announced they are introducing a new piece of legislation to strength the right of self-defense in federal law, according to Just the News. The legislation they are introducing to Congress is called the Stand Your Ground Act of 2023, which calls for amending "title 18, United States Code, to provide an affirmative defense for certain criminal violations, and for other purposes." The bill declared that there was no duty to retreat, which means that there is no obligation for a person who is attacked to first try to retreat as opposed to using force, and empowers the use of non-lethal force by individuals in necessary situations.

Lethal force is only justified in the event where a person "reasonably believes that using, threatening, or attempting to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony."

Representative Gaetz wrote on Twitter that "No American should ever be under the duty to retreat. Especially in these days."
 

No American should ever be under the duty to retreat.

Especially in these days. https://t.co/NoKraXIbTQ

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) May 4, 2023

The Florida lawmaker also wrote that "Every American has the right to defend themselves and their loved ones from an attacker. If someone tries to kill you, you should have the right to return fire and preserve your life. It’s time to reaffirm in law what exists in our Constitution and in the hearts of our fellow Americans. We must abolish the legal duty of retreat everywhere."
 

BREAKING: @SenMullin and I are introducing national “Stand Your Ground” bills in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives today.

Every American has the right to defend themselves and their loved ones from an attacker. If someone tries to kill you, you should have the right… pic.twitter.com/LJta5R15pA

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 4, 2023

Senator Mullin said of the effort on Twitter that "I'm proud to introduce the National Stand Your Ground Act...Every American should have the right to defend themselves and their loved ones against imminent threats to personal safety without the duty to retreat."
 

NEWS: I'm proud to introduce the National Stand Your Ground Act w/ @RepMattGaetz. ⬇️🇺🇸

Every American should have the right to defend themselves and their loved ones against imminent threats to personal safety without the duty to retreat.https://t.co/5wRRjTp7ds

— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) May 4, 2023

In an interview with Fox News, Representative Gaetz expounded that "I became even more convinced that the legal duty to retreat from common law puts the law on the side of the attacker, not the victim...And as I’ve gotten to Congress, I don’t believe that the legal duty to retreat as an American ought to be different in Florida and Connecticut and Massachusetts and California...I think we ought to have a national reckoning on the duty to retreat, and we ought to extinguish it."

He further added that "Since I serve on the Judiciary Committee, I’m going to be using that perch to inject my views on self-defense and extinguishing the duty to retreat in the various legislative proposals that the committee may consider."