Under traditional self-defense law, a person can use force to defend themselves anywhere. When they are outside their home, however, they cannot use force likely to kill or seriously injure someone if there is a safe way to avoid it. Traditional self-defense gives people the right to protect themselves, but also recognizes that it is always best to avoid killing someone if possible. It does not require a person to retreat from a situation if retreating would put them in danger, but requires a person to avoid killing another if there is a clear and safe way to do so. Stand Your Ground laws upend traditional self-defense by allowing people to shoot to kill in public, even when they can safely walk away from the danger.

Stand Your Ground laws are associated with an increase in homicide rates translating to more than 150 additional gun deaths each month in the US overall. Research on these laws has demonstrated that these laws are associated with increases in firearm homicides. At the state level, Stand Your Ground laws have been associated with considerable increases in gun deaths, including unintentional deaths: 6 to 7 percent more gun deaths occurred in suburban counties and 8 percent more gun deaths occurred in urban counties in states that adopted these laws.

Stand Your Ground laws disproportionately impact communities of color. In Stand Your Ground states, homicides in which white shooters kill Black victims are deemed justifiable five times more frequently than when the situation is reversed. Even so, 28 states have passed Stand Your Ground laws since 2005.