To begin, what is the "Law of Stand Your Ground"? Many states such as: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee , Texas, Utah and West Virginia have basic laws that state that individuals do not have to retreat before using force in a self-defense situation or many states have laws that are remarkably similar to supporting your basic laws. Stand Your Ground laws began in 2005, when Florida was the first state to pass the Stand Your Ground law which essentially allowed people to stand their ground instead of fleeing or retreating if they believed it would prevent significant physical harm or death. The purpose of creating laws such as the Stand Your Ground Laws was to clear up any confusion about when an individual can protect themselves and to eradicate some processes in which people legally used self-defense even if they had not previously attempted to retreat from the threat. However, in my opinion, the Stand Your Ground law represents a dangerous alternative to the safe concept known as the duty to retreat. All the states I mentioned above have completely eliminated the concept of the duty to retreat by passing basic laws or passing laws similar to the basic law; in any case, all of the above states do not consider the concept of the duty to retreat as an important factor in their state laws. The duty to retreat is a self-defense concept that simply states that when an individual is faced with a conflict situation they should try to withdraw from the situation (if possible) before becoming...... middle of paper... . ...line/criminal-justice/is-the-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/Flatow, N. (2014, February 5). 5 disturbing facts about the state of holding on on the second anniversary of Trayvon's death. ThinkProgress RSS. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/02/26/3332391/trayvon-martin-years/#Reuters, T. (n.d.). States that have respected your laws. Findlaw. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/states-that-have-stand-your-ground-laws.htmlSaint Leo University. (n.d.). San Leone University. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.saintleo.edu/about/florida-catholic-university.aspxThomas, A. (2013, November 21). Marissa Alexander: The REAL reason he's behind bars. HLNtv.com. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/07/19/marissa-alexander-florida-10-20-life-laws