Missouri is now the first state since the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin to pass a so-called ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that will allow use of deadly force in public without imposing a duty to retreat.
Republican supermajorities in the Missouri Legislature voted this week to override Democratic Governor Jay Nixon’s veto of an omnibus gun bill that passed in the state legislative session earlier this year. The bill, Senate Bill 656, will considerably increase gun owners rights. It will allow use of deadly force against trespassers on one’s own private property as long as a person “reasonably believes” shooting is “necessary to protect himself, or herself or her unborn child, or another against death, serious physical injury, or any forcible felony.” – READ MORE