No! it’s not a carte blanche to use deadly force.

With Permitless carry in effect in Florida, it’s time to clarify for those of you who intend to carry a firearm without a permit, training, and education, on the most misinterpreted Florida gun law…

The Stand Your Ground law.

If you and/or someone you know intend to exercise Permitless Carry, please listen carefully and share with as many people as you know in an effort to prevent making a terrible mistake that may get you killed or land you in prison.

With that said, let’s get into it:

Florida Statute 776.013 is the Stand Your Ground statute.

I’ll break it down in simple terms.

Stand Your Ground in Florida means that if you are attacked you do not have to retreat from the attack before you defend yourself. You can stand your ground and fight back.

However, it is not as black and white as many think it is, and ignorance will not give you a pass if you end up in front of a jury.

If you have to use force in self-defense there are 5 questions you want to answer clearly in order to determine whether you can claim a Stand Your Ground defense:

1. Do I have a reasonable belief that my only option is to pull out a gun and use it?

In other words, there was no way to avoid the situation, retreat and leave, or use non-lethal force.

2. Am I facing imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony in progress against me?

In other words, I or someone around me is going to die, or be severely injured as a result of the attack. The kind of attack on me or someone around me cannot be just any attack. It has to be one of the specific attacks that meet the definition of a forcible felony.

3. Is the use of deadly force immediately necessary?

If someone is walking towards you with a knife or baseball bat in their hand, but are 25 yards away from you, do you immediately have to draw your gun and shoot or even just threaten to do so, or could you run, hide, drive away, etc.?

4. Am I in a place I have a right to be?

There are certain places where carrying a firearm is prohibited. There are places where claiming self-defense doesn’t apply. Do you know where these are?

5. Am I committing a crime?

If you use force to fend off an attack while committing a crime you cannot claim Stand Your Ground.

For example, if you’re buying a stash of hash in an alley behind the local strip club and your dealer takes your money and pulls out a gun instead of the hash you bought and you shoot him instead, you cannot claim Stand Your Ground.

Now, I suspect some of you are thinking “If I have to make a split-second life and death decision and defend myself, I will not have time to think of all that at that moment.”

That’s right! You will not have time. You’ll have to do all that WITHOUT thinking. It will have to happen automatically.

“How?” you wonder. It starts by recognizing that just because you have a right to carry a deadly weapon without a permit, and training and education is no longer required, that the law still applies exactly the same way, and ignorance will never be an acceptable legal defense.

That the responsibility of carrying a deadly weapon on your person is just as immense, and that the smart and responsible thing to do is to still get professionally educated and trained so that you can protect yourself and your loved ones competently and lawfully.

That takes months if not years of consistent and deliberate education and training. It’s not just a commitment. It’s a lifestyle.

If you choose to ignore me and exercise your right to Permitless Carry without education and training, I can’t stop you. I hope you’ll never have to use force in self-defense and find yourself in front of a jury fighting for your freedom.

If you do, and have to use your firearm, I hope you have the means to pay the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Not to mention the stress of trial, loss of earnings, social judgement, strain on your family, and perhaps the burden of taking a life. All because you have a right to do so, and you tried to save a few dollars on the vital education and training that could potentially prevent that nightmare from happening in the first place.

Real Life Stand Your Ground scenarios are not the same as you see on TV and in the movies. Without consistent training and education over an extended period you will not rise to the occasion, just point and shoot, make the bad guys fly in the air and drop like a sack of potatoes. You will not ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Just because you’re the good guy or gal doesn’t mean you’ll survive the attack or win the trial if you do.

So, I encourage you to take the smart and responsible route and invest in the education and training that will help you become a safe and responsible gun owner, and an asset to your community rather than a liability.

Train Hard, Often, and SAFELY!

Watch the video here