Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1196



By Senator Thurston





33-01216-21 20211196__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the use or threatened use of deadly
3 force; amending s. 776.012, F.S.; deleting provisions
4 justifying a person’s use or threatened use of deadly
5 force to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm
6 to himself or herself or another or to prevent the
7 imminent commission of a forcible felony; providing an
8 effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Section 776.012, Florida Statutes, is amended to
13 read:
14 776.012 Use or threatened use of force in defense of
15 person.—
16 (1) A person is justified in using or threatening to use
17 force, except deadly force, against another when and to the
18 extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is
19 necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the
20 other’s imminent use of unlawful force. A person who uses or
21 threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does
22 not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use
23 such force.
24 (2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use
25 deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or
26 threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent
27 death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or
28 to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A
29 person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance
30 with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the
31 right to stand his or her ground if the person using or
32 threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal
33 activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.
34 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.

Statutes affected:
S 1196 Filed: 776.012