Should Florida’s Stand Your Ground law be amended or repealed?
That was the topic at a Stand Your Ground town hall meeting at FAMU College of Law Wednesday night in Orlando.
More than 100 people packed a FAMU law classroom to participate in the town hall discussion which featured three high-ranking state senators.
All three agreed that their fellow lawmakers in Tallahassee need to at least update the Stand Your Ground law.
“[There are] 160 people who can change this law. Those are members of the legislature,” shared State Senator Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, who said the best way citizens can become active is letting their state lawmakers know they want Stand Your Ground repealed or amended.
“Getting rid of that immunity to allow law enforcement to be able to do their job and at least investigate some of these claims are important,” said Democratic State Senator Chris Smith, who serves as the Senate Minority Leader.
State Senator David Simmons, R-Longwood, who co-wrote the Stand Your Ground law, also attended the town hall.
Senator Simmons defended the law, but said he is open to amending the law based on the recommendations produced by Governor Scott’s Stand Your Ground Task Force.
“One of the recommendations was that we put some restrictions on people who are in neighborhood watch-types that they are not going to be able to carry a weapon, or do some of the things that we saw done here with respect to this case of Trayvon Martin,” explained Senator Simmons.
During the town hall, lawmakers told the crowd it is not likely the Stand Your Ground law will be repealed.
However, when the legislative committee meetings begin in September 2013, they are open to the idea of amending the law.
Meanwhile, at this point, if the Stand Your Ground law is going to be amended, that will not take place until Florida's next legislative session that begins in March 2014.