The latest backlash follows Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri's decision not to arrest Michael Drejka, a 47-year-old white man, after he shot and killed Markeis McGlockton, a 28-year-old black man. | AP Photo Democrats rally against 'stand your ground' after Clearwater shooting

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Democrats are renewing their long-standing — and unsuccessful — efforts to gut the state's stand-your-ground law in the wake of a Pinellas County shooting.

"'Stand your ground,' as it exists in this state, has created the opportunity for people to take into their own hands the decision to be judge, jury and executioner,” Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is also running for the Democratic nomination for governor, told reporters Monday.


The latest backlash follows Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri's decision not to arrest Michael Drejka, a 47-year-old white man, after he shot and killed Markeis McGlockton, a 28-year-old black man, on July 19 during a dispute at a Clearwater gas station.

Gualtieri said Florida's 2005 stand-your-ground law "created a standard" that prevented him from making an arrest. He highlighted a 2017 change to the stand-your-ground law as one of the reasons no arrest was made. Under the change, prosecutors now must prove that a defendant can’t use a stand-your-ground defense. Previously, in a pretrial hearing, defendants had to make the case that they could make a stand-your-ground defense.

That decision and rationale have angered Democrats, who say it further underscores why the Legislature should repeal the law.

Gillum is calling on Gov. Rick Scott to call a “state of emergency” and suspend the stand-your-ground laws.

And shortly after Gillum made his announcement, members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, which includes mostly Democrats, said they would push legislation during the 2019 legislative session that would repeal the 2017 change in the burden of proof.

“The Markeis McGlockton shooting incident is a travesty of justice,” said state Rep. Bruce Antone, an Orlando Democrat who chairs the Florida Legislative Black Caucus. “It is unconscionable that Michael Drejka can initiate a confrontation over a handicapped parking space, be the aggressor in the confrontation, cause serious bodily injury and death … then claim self-defense using Florida’s stand-your-ground law.”

State Sen. Darryl Rouson, a black Democrat from St. Petersburg, wrote a letter Sunday night to his colleagues asking for a special session to consider stand-your-ground changes. The letter, first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, is almost certain to fail in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

The issue has made for slightly odd bedfellows: Even supporters of the law disagree with Gualtieri’s position that "stand your ground" — and specifically the 2017 change — prevented him from making an arrest.

"Nothing in either the 2005 law or the 2017 law prohibits a Sheriff from making an arrest in a case where a person claims self-defense if there is probable cause that the use of force was unlawful," NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer told POLITICO on Sunday.

Her group has been one of the biggest supporters of the stand-your-ground law, and it supported the 2017 changes.

Gillum, who also does not think the changes should have prevented an arrest, noted the odd political juxtaposition.

“That will be the end of where I agree with the NRA,” Gillum said Monday. “Because where we disagree is I don’t think 'stand your ground' has a place in civilized society.”