Florida Homicide Rate Increased After Passage of 'Stand Your Ground' Law, Study Finds

iStock/Thinkstock(MIAMI) — The rate of homicides, especially homicides by firearms, sharply increased in Florida in the years after the “stand your ground” law was passed, according to a new study published Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine.

Passed in 2005, the so-called “stand your ground” law in Florida allows residents to use force, including deadly force, if they “reasonably believe” they are at risk of bodily harm. The law also created a “no duty to retreat” provision if they felt at risk.

To see if they could find any measurable effects in the homicide rate after the law’s passage, researchers from the University of Oxford looked at Florida homicide data at various points in time from 1999 to 2014. They then compared increases or decreases in those rates with four control states (New York, Virginia, New Jersey and Ohio) where a “stand your ground”-type law does not exist.

By examining data from a database run by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers found that in the years after the law was passed in Florida, homicides increased approximately 24 percent — from an average of 82 homicides per month between 1999 to October 2005 to 99 homicides per month between October 2005 to 2014.

Additionally, they found the rate of homicide by firearms went up approximately 32 percent — from a mean of 49 homicides per month to 69 during those same periods.

Researchers found no similar increases in the four control states that did not have a “stand your ground”-type law.

They also examined suicide data but did not find any comparable increase in either Florida suicide rates or, more specifically, suicide by firearm rates after the law’s passage. The authors acknowledged that it’s possible there may be multiple factors that led to an increase in the Florida homicide rate.

“Circumstances unique to Florida may have contributed to our findings, including those that we could not identify,” the authors wrote in the study.

There are 23 states that have implemented some form of a “stand your ground” law, according to the researchers.

Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, has studied the effects of gun-related policies and said the study published Monday was “important.”

“These ‘stand your ground’ laws have proliferated and for the people who favor them, the point is that it’s going to make people safer,” Swanson told ABC News Monday. “You can stand your ground if you perceive your life is being threatened [but] what we’re seeing here empirically is exactly the opposite.”

While the researchers found an increase in homicide rates after the law’s passage, they did not find enough evidence to definitively find the law caused the increase in the homicide rate.

While the study had limitations, Swanson said the research of the four control states makes the study stronger.

“They look at comparable trends in states that didn’t pass the law and don’t see the effect,” Swanson noted.

Swanson said these kinds of studies must continue in order for policy makers to make clear and informed decisions about legislation.

“This is always the question of balancing risk and rights,” Swanson said.

The National Rifle Association, which backed Florida’s “stand your ground” law, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the study.

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