Economist John Lott says that states adopting stand-your-ground/castle doctrine laws reduced murder rates by 9 percent and overall violent crime by 11 percent , and that occurs even after accounting for a range of other factors such as national crime trends , law enforcement variables ( arrest , execution , and imprisonment rates ) , income and poverty measures , demographic changes , and the national average changes in crime rates from year-to-year and average differences across states . A 2012 study examined whether a prominent Stand Your Ground shooting , Joe Horn shooting controversy , in 2007 , which brought public attention to Texas ' stand-your-ground law impacted crime . The study found that subsequent to the shooting , burglaries decreased significantly in Houston , but not in Dallas , over a 20-month period . A 2015 study found that the adoption of Oklahoma 's stand-your-ground law was associated with a decrease in residential burglaries , but also that the law had " the unintended consequence of increasing the number of non-residential burglaries . " In Canada , as in England , there is no duty to retreat under the law . Canada 's laws regarding self-defence are similar in nature to that of England , as they centre around the acts committed , and whether or not those acts are considered reasonable in the circumstances . The sections of the Canadian criminal code that deal with self-defence or defence of property are sections 34 and 35 , respectively . These sections were updated in 2012 to clarify the code , and to help legal professionals apply the law in accordance with the values Canadians hold to be acceptable
Joe Horn shooting controversy
Joe Horn shooting controversy
Stand-your-ground law