Politifact 'graded' this report & gave the figures a true, just that the increase couldn't be directly related to syg laws. The striking thing I found is that justifiable homicides done by police also appeared to have about tripled, from avg of 20/yr to about (post syg) 50/yr. All this while violent crime rates in florida dropped ~20% from 2000/04 to 2006/10 -- (murder rates didn't change tho). Personally I think syg laws are contributory to the increases, but of course the increases can't be unequivocally attributed to syg, so PF has to say halftrue on one judgement (chris smith link).
politifact, edited: 2000-04 - the 5 full years before "stand your ground" took effect - Florida reported average of 12 justifiable homicides a year by civilians. From 2006-10 - first 5 full years after "syg" became law - law enforcement reported average 36 justifiable homicides by civilians.. the number of justifiable homicides by civilians is now 3 times higher than it was in the years before 2005.. an increase of 200% http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/jul/15/fact-checks-about-death-trayvon-martin/ .. the numbers largerly support the idea that self-defense deaths have increased since 2005. As for whether "syg" is the reason self-defense deaths are up, experts either disagree or say it’s difficult to determine without examining the specifics of each case. We rate this statement Half True.
Then, SURPRISE!, a florida repub Baxley who helped author syg, uses the decline in florida's violcrime rate to praise syg laws! Baxley added that he thought the law "has saved thousands of people's lives."Pfffft... gun guru in training.
Politifact: Baxley said "We’ve had a dramatic drop in violent crime since this law has been in effect." His comments implied the law itself reduced violent crime rates. There has been a drop, but rates were declining before the law went into effect. We found no proof that that the "syg" law caused the drop; We rate his claim Half True.
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