Latest news with #standYourGround
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The chilling insurance policy more Americans are buying... and what it says about gun violence in the US
More Americans are taking out a drastic insurance policy as gun ownership and stand-your-ground laws continue to spread across the country. Around two million Americans now have self-defense insurance for incidents where they may shoot or kill another person while being attacked or fearing for their own life. These policies, which tend to fall between the regulatory cracks, can cover legal fees, provide attorneys or provide bail or the costs of a civil lawsuit brought by victims and their families. Critics call these businesses providers of 'murder insurance', while others claim it is a natural consequence of increased gun ownership and stand-your-ground laws, The Wall Street Journal reported. Stand-your-ground laws, though varying in detail between states, argue that an individual has the right to use force to protect themselves against an intruder or to defend their own life. Policies with companies such as U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and their main rival U.S. Law Shield can cover a range of incidents from shootings to threatening another person with a gun, so long as there is a plausible self-defense claim. There are also upgraded plans that can include grisly details such as crime-scene cleanup costs and cover for minor children, as well as TSA-violation expenses and accidental-discharge costs. Fees can range between $11 and $59 a month depending on the provider and the level of coverage selected. For these businesses, the proof of the need for their existence is in how many of their clients have been represented and later exonerated after self-defense shootings. 'There's literally thousands of cases that have gone to trial that we have defended our members and exonerated them from charges,' USCCA's founder and owner Tim Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal. However, there are limitations to the coverage these policies will provide. Many policies will not cover shooters who are intoxicated at the time of the incident. While others will not represent those who have shot a family member. Self-defense insurance leaders told the Journal that their membership has doubled in the last five years. The businesses saw a large uptick in members following the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. There was a 40 percent rise in pre-purchase background checks for firearms in 2020 compared to the year before. Membership to such businesses has doubled in the last five years One business, CCW Safe, said its membership doubled in the last five years and now sits between 100,000 and 150,000 members. USCCA, which has around 860,000 members, is among the largest in the industry. As a result of such a tailwind these businesses are now highly profitable. USCCA is 100 percent owned by Tim Schmidt and his ex-wife, and the pair also own three private jets, the Journal reported. According to the Journal's analysis, the company's membership revenue last year was around $300 million. The number of clients who actually end up needing a defense attorney for a self defense shooting are actually very small. The businesses claim they use profits to put on training classes for their members, advising them on when to use force or not, as well as teaching them about the criminal justice system. 'We're the No. 1 firearms and self-defense training organization in the country,' Schmidt told the Journal. U.S. Law Shield, which has around 600,000 to 700,000 members, only spent around 15 percent of its revenue on its clients legal expenses in recent years, according to insurance filings. 'The number of people who ended up with charges is minuscule. That's why they made so much money,' former U.S. Law Shield attorney Stanley Marks told the Journal. 'We're very profitable,' president of U.S. Law Shield Kirk Evans admitted.
Washington Post
09-05-2025
- Washington Post
Alabama ex-officer insists he had 'stand your ground' right when he shot an armed Black man
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A former Alabama police officer who shot an armed Black man is trying to win back his claim to self-defense before his upcoming murder trial, and appealed a judge's pretrial decision as a 'gross abuse of discretion.' The appeal hinges on Alabama's ' stand your ground ' law, which grants immunity from prosecution to anyone who uses deadly force as long as they reasonably believe they're in danger and are somewhere they're rightfully allowed to be.
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Associated Press
Alabama ex-officer insists he had 'stand your ground' right when he shot an armed Black man
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama police officer who shot an armed Black man is trying to win back his claim to self-defense before his upcoming murder trial, and appealed a judge's pretrial decision as a 'gross abuse of discretion.' The appeal hinges on Alabama's ' stand your ground ' law, which grants immunity from prosecution to anyone who uses deadly force as long as they reasonably believe they're in danger and are somewhere they're rightfully allowed to be. Mac Marquette, 25, is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Steve Perkins shortly before 2 a.m. in September 2023. Marquette and two other officers were accompanying a tow-truck driver to repossess Perkins' pickup truck at his home in Decatur. When Perkins emerged from his house with a gun, Marquette fired 18 bullets less than two seconds after identifying himself as law enforcement, according to body camera footage. Court documents filed on Thursday said the judge erroneously ruled against Marquette based on his assessment that Marquette didn't sufficiently prove he had a right to be on Perkins' property. Alabama allows judges to determine if someone acted in self defense before a case goes to trial. The judge said Alabama law requires a court order for law enforcement to be involved in a vehicle repossession — which the officers didn't have. Marquette's lawyers say the judge should have given more weight to the fact that Perkins pointed his gun at the officer before he was shot. They say Marquette reasonably felt that running away from Perkins would've put him in more danger than standing his ground. The defense also says the officers had a legitimate reason to be there, based on the 'custom, pattern, and practice of the Decatur Police Department' and because their supervisor authorized it. Both officers who were with Marquette testified they weren't there to assist in the repossession, but were instead there to 'keep the peace' and to 'investigate' Perkins for pulling a gun on the tow-truck driver in an earlier repossession attempt. The state agent who investigated Perkins' death testified in March that the way that the officers set up wasn't standard for either of those tasks, but also said that Marquette had a reason to fear for his life. All parties in the case are prohibited from speaking to the media. The hearing comes on the heels of two years of intense protest about Perkins' death in the northern Alabama city of approximately 60,000 people. A Black man experiencing a mental health crisis died in Decatur Police Department custody in April. Body camera footage showing police officers punching and tasing him repeatedly reignited debate over police misconduct in the area. Marquette's attorneys requested a postponement of the trial originally set for June, and a chance to present oral arguments in front of the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals. ___ Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
