ATLANTA — State lawmakers will consider a gun bill that would roll back the concept of "stand your ground," a law that gives potential crime victims broad self-defense leeway.
HB 842 has the unusual title of the "Georgia Shoot First Act," which is designed to do exactly the opposite. Democrats introduced it in the final days of this year's adjourned legislative session in March.
Gun owners in Georgia have the right to protect their homes and businesses by using firearms and deadly force when threatened by aggressive criminals. If they’re prosecuted, the law says they can legally use a self-defense argument as part of Georgia’s version of the stand your ground law.
State Rep. Marvin Lim (D-Norcross) introduced a bill that would still allow that – but would require victims to weigh, whether they can first remove themselves from the circumstances without using deadly force.
"People are still allowed to defend themselves but are also required as everyone still is – whatever the stand your ground regime is or not – to decide whether or not this is force that is necessary," Lim said in an interview Monday.
Lim said too many people have been killed by property owners, who mistakenly thought they were being threatened.
Gun rights advocates contend the state’s stand your ground law is working as intended and needs no rollback.
Lim's bill “imposes for the first time in Georgia history an obligation to try to run away from an attacker if possible… A crime victim would have to make a split-second decision about whether she can safely run away," wrote Jerry Henry, Executive Director of GA2A, a gun rights group.
Lim said his bill is a logical next step after the state repealed its citizen arrest law a couple of years ago. He also acknowledges the Republican leadership at the Capitol is likely to ignore his bill.