Editorial Exegesis

Obama changes stance on "stand your ground"

"Same-sex marriage isn't the only subject on which President Obama's views have evolved. In his remarks last Friday on George Zimmerman's acquittal, the President said it would be wise to 'examine' state and local laws governing the use of firearms in self-defense. He suggested that 'stand your ground' provisions are 'sending a message' that 'someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation.' He asked: 'Is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see?' It turns out that Mr. Obama participated in such an examination almost a decade ago and emerged as a stand-your-ground proponent. Illinois Review, a conservative blog, recently unearthed Illinois Senate records showing that then-state Senator Obama voted for and even co-sponsored a 2004 bill that expanded the protection of the state's 1961 stand-your-ground law to include immunity from civil liability for people who use deadly force to defend themselves or their property. The bill wasn't controversial in the liberal legislature, passing the Senate without dissent and the state House with only two nays before then-Governor Rod Blagojevich, also a Democrat, signed it. ... U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Judiciary Committee, says he'll hold a subcommittee hearing on the topic this fall. Maybe he should call his former junior colleague as a witness and ask him to explain what message he was seeking to send in 2004."

--The Wall Street Journal