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On March 15, the Senate voted to pass SB 128, expanding our states dangerous stand your ground law. Its safe to say that I was deeply disappointed by this unfortunate development.

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Tallahassee Democrat 11:04 a.m. ET March 25, 2017

Letter to the Editor(Photo: Democrat files)Buy Photo

On March 15, the Senate voted to pass SB 128, expanding our states dangerous stand your ground law. Its safe to say that I was deeply disappointed by this unfortunate development.

By approving this reckless legislation, the bills supporters doubled down on the (already debunked) idea that stand your ground makes us safer. This law has led to more use of deadly force, endangering our communities and placing an undue burden of more homicide cases on our law enforcement officers.

Currently, about 70 percent of defendants who claim immunity under this law go free without a trial, despite about one-third of defendants initiating the confrontation, per the Tampa Bay Times. Expanding this law would only exacerbate the issue.

Despite all this evidence, some in the GOP have chosen to support this bill at the urging of the NRA. For fear of losing the gun lobbys financial backing, they have prioritized the NRA over their own communities.

When this bill comes before the House Judiciary Committee, the other committee members and I will face a simple decision: to represent the people or to represent the special interests.

I choose to represent my constituents and I urge other members to do the same.

Rep. Ramon Alexander, Tallahassee, ramonalexander06@yahoo.com

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Read more here:
Letter: 'Stand Your Ground' a bad law - Tallahassee.com