Yesterday in a speech to the 104th NAACP conference in Florida, Attorney General Eric Holder equated self-defense to gun violence and said people in a violent situation have an obligation to "retreat" from their attacker. Holder also slammed Stand Your Ground laws by saying, "We must stand our ground to ensure that our laws reduce violence and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent."
The National Rifle Association was not pleased with Holder's statements and released the following to Fox News:
Chris W. Cox, executive director NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, claimed Holder went too far in extending the debate to "stand-your-ground" laws.
"The attorney general fails to understand that self-defense is not a concept, it's a fundamental human right," he said in a statement. "To send a message that legitimate self-defense is to blame is unconscionable, and demonstrates once again that this administration will exploit tragedies to push their political agenda."
According to Florida University Criminologist Gary Kleck, Americans use firearms in self-defense 2.1-2.5 million times annually. In the majority of those cases, a victim simply presenting the firearm was enough to scare off the attacker, hence the reason why the simple possible presence of a firearm acts as a deterrent.
Considering Holder said during his time in the Clinton Justice Department that he wanted to "brain wash" people against guns, his decision to equate self-defense with gun violence is not surprising. Just a month ago, Holder's gun control ally NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, held a rally in New Hampshire to fight "gun violence." During that rally, supporters read names of "gun violence victims," which included Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev was killed by police after killing three people with pressure cooker bombs and after shooting a police officer on the campus of MIT.Only 24% of the gun defenders in the present study reported firing the gun, and only 8% report wounding an adversary.