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Stand Your Ground

A History of America's Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense

Author: Caroline Light Foreword by: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

A convincing treatise on the United States’ unprecedented ascension as the world’s foremost stand-your-ground nation

In the aftermath of nearly all mass shootings of the 21st century, conservative legislators and Second Amendment advocates often push the same claims: that these tragedies could have been averted if victims and bystanders were better equipped to “take down” the often young, white gunmen who perpetuate these crimes with guns of their own. In most cases after such events, there is a sharp increase in firearm sales, and despite a 2024 Pew Research Center poll in which 54% of US adults believed an increase in the number of guns in the country is bad for society, more than 33 states have adopted stand-your-ground laws.

By exploring the development of white America’s attachment to lethal self-defense, author Caroline Light proves that contemporary DIY security activism stretches further back than the current US gun rights movement. Including wide ranging legal and social histories such as the original “castle laws” of the 1600s; the horrific lynchings of Black “criminals” during the era of Jim Crow; and the NRA’s evolution from sporting organization to one of the most radical and powerful lobbying groups in the country, Stand Your Ground exposes how violent self-defense has been legalized for the most privileged and weaponized against the most vulnerable.

With an updated introduction by Light and a new foreword by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, renowned historian and author of Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, Stand Your Ground exposes a history hidden in plain sight and illuminates how the United States ascended to become the world’s foremost stand-your-ground nation.