Skip to content

Which states have rejected Stand Your Ground laws?

21 states have rejected this policy

AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

No Stand Your Ground Law

Alabama has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Alaska has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Arizona has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Arkansas has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

California has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Colorado has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Connecticut has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Delaware has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Florida has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Georgia has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Hawaii has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Idaho has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Illinois has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Indiana has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Iowa has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Kansas has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Kentucky has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Louisiana has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Maine has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Maryland has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Massachusetts has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Michigan has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Minnesota has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Mississippi has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Missouri has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Montana has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Nebraska has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Nevada has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

New Hampshire has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

New Jersey has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

New Mexico has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

New York has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

North Carolina has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

North Dakota has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Ohio has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Oklahoma has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Oregon has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Pennsylvania has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Rhode Island has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

South Carolina has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

South Dakota has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Tennessee has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Texas has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Utah has not rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Vermont has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Virginia has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Washington has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

West Virginia has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Wisconsin has rejected this policy

No Stand Your Ground Law

Wyoming has not rejected this policy

What It Does

Roughly half the states in the country have refused to enact Stand Your Ground laws, which allow people to shoot and kill in public even if they can safely walk away from the situation. Traditional self-defense laws allow people to use deadly force in public only in dangerous situations where they can’t easily retreat. But Stand Your Ground encourages avoidable violence and vigilantism.

The Impact

These laws dramatically escalate violence, leading to 150 additional gun deaths each month nationwide—with an increase of 32% in Florida’s gun homicide rate alone. And they drastically reduce consequences, with homicides in which white shooters kill Black victims deemed justifiable five times more frequently than when the situation is reversed.

No Stand Your Ground Law

Policy rejected?
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Show Citations and Footnotes 
Source: Ala. Code § 13A-3-23; Alaska Stat. § 11.81.335(b); Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-405; Ark. Code Ann. §§ 5-2-606, 5-2-607; Fla. Stat. §§ 776.012, 776.031; Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-3-21(a), 16-3-23.1; Idaho Code § 19-202A(3); Ind. Code § 35-41-3-2; Iowa Code § 704.1; Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-5222; Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 503.055(3); La. Stat. Ann. § 14:20; Mich. Comp. Laws § 780.972; Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-15; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 563.031; Mont. Code Ann. § 5-3-102; Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 200.120, 200.200; N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 627:4; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-51.3; N.D. Cent. Code, § 12.1-05-07; Oh Rev Stat. § 2901.09; Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 1289.25(D); 18 Pa.C.S. § 505; S.C. Code Ann. § 16-11-440(C); S.D. Codified Laws §§ 22-18-4, 22-18-4.1; Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-611; Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 9.32; Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-402; Wyo. Stat. § 6-2-602.

150: Levy M, Alvarez W, Vagelakos L, Yore & Khallouq BB. (202, January). Stand your ground: Policy and trends in firearm-related justifiable homicide and homicide in the US. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 230(1): 161-67.e4. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31730807/.

FL: Humphreys DK, Gasparrini A, & Wiebe DJ. (2017). Evaluating the impact of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law on homicide and suicide by firearm: An interrupted time series study. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(1): 44-50. Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2582988.

justifiable: Everytown analysis of FBI Supplementary Homicide Report, 2014 to 2018.

More from Foundational laws