Barack Obama

President Barack Obama speaks in the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, July 19, 2013, about the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. Obama spoke in a surprise appearance Friday at the White House, his first time appearing for a statement on the verdict since it was issued last Saturday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In unscheduled comments in the White House briefing room Friday, President Barack Obama suggested re-examining Stand Your Ground laws and discussed a number of potential steps to take in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial.

Obama proposed an examination of state and local laws to see if "they may encourage" altercations like in the Zimmerman case "rather than defuse" potential altercations.

"Is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace, and order, and security that we'd like to see?" Obama said.

"If Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?"

The president referenced comments he made when Martin was killed in Feb. 2012, in which he said that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.

"Another way of saying that is that Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," Obama said.

While discussing stereotypes of young black men, Obama said that the African-American community in America is not "naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence."

Black communities interpret such statistics through the lens of "a very difficult history," he said, but excuses shouldn't be made.

"And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent -- using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain," Obama said.

"There are a lot of kids out there who need help, and are getting a lot of negative reinforcement," Obama said. "Is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them, and values them, and is willing to invest in them?"

Obama called the protests in many communities over the Zimmerman verdict "understandable" so long as they remain non-violent. "If I see any violence, then I will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family."

Referencing his daughters, Obama said that younger generations are less prejudiced than older generations, and that is true across the country. "They're better than we are, and they're better than we were on these issues."

Updated at 4:29 p.m. to include a link to the transcript.

This is a developing story, and it will be updated.