To begin with, what is “Uphold Your Fundamental Laws”? Well, many states such as: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia have basic laws that state that individuals are not required to retreat before using force in a self-defense situation, or many states have laws remarkably similar to your fundamental laws. Stand Your Ground laws began in 2005 when Florida was the first state to pass the Stand Your Ground law, which essentially allowed individuals to stand their ground instead of fleeing or retreating if they believed it would avoid harm. serious bodily injury or death. The purpose of creating laws such as Stand Your Ground laws was to erase confusion about when an individual can protect themselves and to eradicate certain lawsuits in which people who legally resort to self-defense even if they do not had not initially attempted to withdraw from the threat. However, in my opinion, the Stand Your Ground law is a dangerous alternative to the safe concept called duty to retreat. All of the states I mentioned above have either completely eliminated the concept of an opt-out requirement by adopting your Basic Laws or by adopting laws similar to your Basic Law; Regardless, not all of the states above consider the concept of an opt-out requirement as a major factor in their state laws. Duty to retreat is a self-defense concept that simply states that when an individual is faced with a confrontational situation, they are expected to try to remove themselves from the situation (if possible) before becoming...... to middle of paper. ....line/criminal-justice/is-there-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/Flatow, N. (February 5, 2014). 5 Disturbing Facts About the State of Stand Your Ground on the Second Anniversary of Trayvon's Death. Think RSS progress. Retrieved March 2, 2014 from http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/02/26/3332391/trayvon-martin-years/#Reuters, T. (nd). States that have respected your fundamental laws. Find the law. Accessed March 2, 2014, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/states-that-have-stand-your-ground-laws.htmlSaint Leo University. (nd). Saint Léon University. Accessed March 2, 2014, from http://www.saintleo.edu/about/florida-catholic-university.aspxThomas, A. (November 21, 2013). Marissa Alexander: The REAL reason she's behind bars. HLNtv.com. Accessed March 2, 2014, from http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/07/19/marissa-alexander-florida-10-20-life-laws