| ‘Stand your ground,’ self-defense and the rhetoric that emboldened recent shooters U.S. News & World Report: Matthew Lacombe, the Alexander P. Lamis Associate Professor in American Politics in the Department of Political Science, said pro-gun groups on the right have for years promoted the right to armed self-defense and warned of pervasive threats—but recent shootings of innocent people are the consequence. “The NRA narrative that you might use guns for armed self-defense is not new,” he said. “What is newer is liberalization of particularly state-level laws pertaining to how, when and why you can use lethal force to defend yourself.” |
