The Florida Senate on Thursday passed the so-called "warning shot" expansion of the Stand Your Ground Law.
It allows people to threaten violence or even fire a gun to scare off an attacker if they feel threatened. Under existing law, shooting the gun could expose them to mandatory and lengthy prison time under Florida's gun crime laws.The other thing it does is allow court records to be expunged when a defendant is acquitted on a Stand Your Ground offense. And that raised a whole new issue. Broward County Democratic Senator Chris Smith said wiping the record clean eliminates all the data about how the Stand Your Ground law is being used. He told the Senate the only information he's seen came from the Tampa Bay Times.
"They combed through court cases and was able to tell us ok, these are how many times it was used, these are some of the stats by it", said Smith. "How can we accurately determine whether a law is working if we can’t track the law?"
Smith's proposed amendment died quickly, mostly at the hands of Citrus County Republican Charlie Dean who authored the expungement section.
"Clearly, if you’re innocent, that automatically should expunge your name and you shouldn’t have to defend your name the rest of your life."
The bill was heavily supported by the NRA and other gun groups", Smith said. "The House has already passed its version. Now, it’s on the governor's desk for signature.