Jacob Sullum: Hung Up on ‘Stand Your Ground’

At the center of the case
against Michael Dunn is a disappearing shotgun. The middle-aged
software developer claims 17-year-old Jordan Davis threatened to
kill him with it during an argument over loud music at a
Jacksonville, Florida, gas station in November 2012. But police
never found a gun, and no witness reported seeing one. Three jurors
nevertheless found Dunn’s story plausible, which is why his trial
ended in February without a verdict on the murder charge related to
his shooting of Davis. Jacob Sullum writes that it is hard to see
how that outcome can be attributed to Florida’s “stand your ground”
self-defense law, which was widely blamed for hanging the jury.

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