Home on the Gun Range: Discussing Whether Kansas's New Stand Your Ground Statute Will Protect Gun Owners Who Use Disproportionate Force in Self-Defense

On October 8, 2006, Norman Borden was walking his four pit bulls in West Palm Beach, Florida, when he got into an altercation with two young men. The men exchanged heated words, and Borden showed the men that he had a gun. The two young men left and went to pick up a third man, who was a “documented member of a violent gang.” The three men returned in a Jeep, carrying bats, and started to drive toward Borden. In response, he shot at the vehicle fourteen times. After shooting five times through the windshield, Borden walked around to the driver’s side and shot into the car nine more times. Two of the three men in the car were killed, and the other man was critically wounded. During Borden’s murder trial, the prosecution argued that the first five shots were in self-defense, but the last nine shots were murder. However, under Florida’s new “stand your ground” law, all of Borden’s actions were considered self-defense, and he was acquitted. Florida’s law allows the use of deadly force in self-defense when reasonably