Mark Wiggins

KVUE

AUSTIN -- A state lawmaker wants to repeal Texas' "stand your ground" law, and says many Texans live in fear of it.

Self-proclaimed neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman told police he thought Trayvon Martin looked suspicious when he followed the hoodie-clad 17-year-old through a Florida apartment complex in 2012. The ensuing scuffle led to Zimmerman fatally shooting the unarmed teen.

Zimmerman's defense team initially claimed Zimmerman was justified under Florida's "stand your ground" law, but later argued under a different statute. A jury ultimately determined he had acted in self-defense.

"He had a nine millimeter gun. Trayvon Martin had a bag of skittles," Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump told media as the incident generated national interest. "Where is the self-defense in that?"

Texas has long had a similar law, which one lawmaker has long opposed. State Rep. Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) was among just 13 members of the Texas House of Representatives who voted against adopting Texas' "stand your ground" law in 2007.

The law extended the "castle doctrine," which allows for the use of deadly force to protect people and property in one's home, to apply to broad variety of scenarios outside the home. The law further specifies that a person is not required to attempt to retreat to safety before acting in self-defense. According to Sec. 9.32 of the statute:

A person is justified in using deadly force against another:

(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and

(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:

(A) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or

(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.

Coleman says the problem is that the law allows the use of deadly force against another simply because of a perceived threat. He says broadly-held stereotypes based on culture and ethnicity make some groups likely to be perceived as threatening simply because of their appearance.

"You've seen people walk across the street to avoid certain people, which might be appropriate," Coleman told reporters at a media conference Thursday afternoon at the Texas Capitol. "But shooting them because they perceive that that individual is actually going to hurt them and have that be legal under the law is just not appropriate."

"It really does put a target on the back on individuals of color, men of color, who are perceived to be dangerous because of a perception that they are," said Coleman.

House Bill 1627 by Coleman would repeal the law and alter the circumstances under which deadly force is justified. It would still allow deadly force to defend one's home and in situations where a person is threatened and cannot retreat to safety. The bill would remove the right to use deadly force to stop a robbery or aggravated robbery, with potential exceptions.

"If they're robbing you at gunpoint, you can shoot them, because they're using deadly force," said Coleman, who explained the idea is that deadly force would be reserved for actual threats, not perceived ones.

Similar legislation was filed during the 2013 legislative session, but was unsuccessful. It's likely a tough sell in the 84th Texas Legislature, but Coleman hopes to at least get folks talking about it.

"I'm more afraid now, personally, than I ever have been since the 70s that somehow somebody's going to make a mistake and believe that I'm dangerous," Coleman said.

Afterward, he told KVUE the feeling is one that comes from a lifetime of being unfairly profiled.

"It doesn't go away because it's ingrained in how you act, and how you are, and how it feels."

Responding to a Quinnipiac University poll in 2013, African-American voters opposed stand your ground laws by 57 percent to 37 percent. White voters supported the laws by 57 percent to 37 percent. Coleman cited a 2012 Texas A&M University study on stand your ground to say the law has resulted in an overall increase in homicides.