CHARLESTON (AP) — A national group wants West Virginia to overturn a law that gives residents the right to protect one’s home with reasonable, sometimes deadly, force.
Members of the Second Chance Campaign say so-called “stand your ground” laws create racial bias and difficulty in prosecution.
The right has been common law since before West Virginia’s formation. But legislators made that right an official law in 2008 when they expanded it to permit justifiable force away from home and to protect gun owners against civil liability. Similar codes passed by at least 26 states since 2005.
The Charleston Gazette reports that State Senate President Jeff Kessler says that there’s no plan to change or repeal West Virginia’s law. He says the existing law is appropriate and adequate.
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