Video: Bloomberg: Stand Your Ground has made America less safe

During a press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I-NYC, addressed the Stand Your Ground law calling it ?vigilantism? saying it?s done harm to public safety. Bloomberg talks about the launch of a nationwide campaign urging legislators to reform, repeal, or defeat the Stand Your Ground laws.

>> in new york. with he have michael blum berg and members of the naacp talking about the stand-your-ground law and the fact that more than 20 other states have similar laws that they're referring to as second chance on shoot first. let's listen in.

>> succeed in pushing the bill through the legislature over the objections of leading police and law enforcement leaders. since then the nra managed to spread this law to 24 other states telling legislators this would make their communities safer. it didn't turn out that way. we now have the data to prove it. in reality, the nra leaders weren't interested in public safety . they were interested in promoting culture where people take the law into their own hands and face no consequences for it. call it by its real name, villageal ant at theism. they have under mine the integrity of the justice system and have some confusion in police departments about when to make arrests. they made it more difficult for prosecutors to bring charges in cases of deadly violence and the stand your ground states have seen a major increase in justifiable homicides. these laws have not only made our -- have not made our country safer. they have made us less safe. that's why so many law enforcement leaders oppose these laws. it is why some legislators who voted for these laws are having second thoughts. it is why today we're launching a nationwide campaign urging legislators to take these steps. reform or repeal these laws where they have been passed or defeat them in states where they have been introduced. the fact is all americans already have a right to defend themselves with commensurate force but these shoot first laws have nothing to do with that or the exercise of second amendment rights. instead, they justify civilian gun play and invite vigilante justice with disastrous results. the strongest law of all is one that is never on the books, the law of unintend the consequences. stand-your-ground laws prove that's true and demonstrated by the widely reported increase in what are deemed justifiable homicides and stand your ground states . look what happened in three major states during comparable periods before and after stand your grounds passed. before stand-your-ground laws became law in florida, the state averaged 12 cases of justifiable homicide per year. since the law was passed, the average has been 36, three times higher. pre- stand your ground georgia averaged 7 a year and since 14 a year and texas averaged 26 the year before passing a stand-your-ground law and since the law passed, the 45 per year. no matter how the state of florida investigates into the shooting --

>> we're listening to the mayor of new york city joined by a number of leaders in washington, d.c. who want to see the stand-your-ground laws in 24 other states , including florida, to be over turned. in the meanwhile, let me

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