Utah is one of over 20 states that have adopted a Stand Your Ground law, which gives people with a concealed carry license the right to shoot in self-defense without attempting to retreat first. This law was brought to the forefront last week with a shooting in Orem.
On Saturday, a 27-year-old man attempted to steal a car from a woman outside a grocery store in Orem. A man with a concealed carry permit saw the confrontation and pointed his gun at the carjacker, who turned around and lunged forward. The gun was fired and the carjacker died.
Utah Representative Curtis Oda said the man was justified to pull his gun on the carjacker.
“It’s the bad guy who causes his own demise," Oda said. "So in other words, if he would have just stopped and run away, that would not have happened, but he lunged for the gun.”
Concealed permit instructor, Dex Taylor, said the Stand Your Ground law currently in place, which will likely protect the shooter from any criminal charges, is a result of rights granted by the Constitution.
“I think the design behind the Constitution, you know of a free America, was written that we have the right to be able to be wherever we are allowed to be, that’s agreed by the majority of the people, and that we don’t have to run away," Taylor said.
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, executive director of Moms Rising, which is an advocacy group for mothers and families and has pushed for gun control laws in Utah, said Stand Your Ground laws may not be safe.
“Community safety is definitely in question when Stand Your Ground laws exist, and we can see that in the stats," Finkbeiner said. "More people die in states with stand your ground laws.”
One study done at Texas A&M found the rate for homicides went up in states with Stand Your Ground laws after they were implemented.
Oda says this doesn’t necessarily mean the people killed were innocent.
“If you, the good guy has to retreat, well yeah, there’s not going to be the situation where the bad guy might get shot," Oda said.
Finkbeiner said there are instances where the victims weren’t committing crime. Sometimes they were confused and looking for help.
“Renisha McBride was recently shot dead after a car crash that she was in, happened just outside of Detroit," Finkbeiner said. "She went to somebody’s porch for help, knocked on the door and he shot her dead. A Virginia teen was recently shot after entering the wrong home following a party, and an Alzheimer’s patient was recently killed after being mistaken for an intruder.”
Taylor says people do make wrong calls, whether they’re civilians or law enforcement, which is why final decisions are up to the courts.
“That’s their job is to be able to decide ‘Was there an imminent threat? ‘Was it happening immediately?’ and last but not least, ‘Was it deemed reasonable?’" Taylor said. "That’s the three answers you need to be able to say ‘yes’ to if you’re ever going to use a firearm and by chance have to use deadly force.”
Orem Police Capt. Ned Jackson said while the investigation is still going on, the man who shot the carjacker will probably not be charged.