Self-Defense: Holder versus the National Rifle Association

NRA Responds to Eric Holder's Watered Down View of Self-Defense

Yesterday in a speech to the 104th NAACP conference in Florida, Attorney General Eric Holder equated self-defense to gun violence and said people in a violent situation have an obligation to "retreat" from their attacker. Holder also slammed Stand Your Ground laws by saying, "We must stand our ground to ensure that our laws reduce violence and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent."

The National Rifle Association was not pleased with Holder's statements and released the following to Fox News:

Chris W. Cox, executive director NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, claimed Holder went too far in extending the debate to "stand-your-ground" laws.

"The attorney general fails to understand that self-defense is not a concept, it's a fundamental human right," he said in a statement. "To send a message that legitimate self-defense is to blame is unconscionable, and demonstrates once again that this administration will exploit tragedies to push their political agenda."

According to Florida University Criminologist Gary Kleck, Americans use firearms in self-defense 2.1-2.5 million times annually. In the majority of those cases, a victim simply presenting the firearm was enough to scare off the attacker, hence the reason why the simple possible presence of a firearm acts as a deterrent.

Only 24% of the gun defenders in the present study reported firing the gun, and only 8% report wounding an adversary.

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