Stand-your-ground laws questioned, defended: #tellusatoday

Laws that expand self-defense should be questioned, Attorney General Eric Holder said this week. We asked on Twitter: What do you think of stand-your-ground laws? Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar:

I live in Florida. The stand-your-ground law should not be messed with. If I feel threatened, I have every right to defend myself.

— @OUTLAWWOLF2675

I support self-defense laws, but they need common sense, too. An individual cannot claim self-defense if he started the altercation.

— @MagicCityRegi

That law allows fools to act as police and take law in their own hands. I am not surprised at how many support it.

— @RafaAlcalde1

After the Zimmerman trial, it should be clear what many think of the law: It allows open season to kill a person if you are afraid!

— @eab53

I wish we had stand-your-ground in New York! The streets would be safer. An armed society is a polite society.

— @GRFnewyork

In the reality we live in, unfortunately, we can't always expect law enforcement to be there right away to save us. Although there can be a lot of abuse of stand-your-ground laws, too. It's not a cut-and-dried issue.

— @ahenshawisu

Stand-your-ground law is wrong. It covered George Zimmerman's "ground" as his entire neighborhood, not just his house.

— @Malaguena915

For more of this discussion, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday on Twitter.