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Stand Your Ground States: Self-Defense Laws by State
Which states have no duty to retreat outside the home, by statute or by court decision.
As of October 6, 2026: Duty to retreat outside the home: 12 states; No duty to retreat (court decision): 8 states and DC; No duty to retreat (statute): 30 states.
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🛡️Every state
| State | Law | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Alaska | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Arizona | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Arkansas | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| California | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions / jury instruction) |
| Colorado | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions) |
| Connecticut | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe |
| Delaware | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home and workplace when it is safe |
| District of Columbia | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions; jury may weigh it) |
| Florida | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Georgia | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Hawaii | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home and workplace when it is safe |
| Idaho | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Illinois | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions; no statute either way) |
| Indiana | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Iowa | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Kansas | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Kentucky | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Louisiana | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Maine | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe |
| Maryland | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe (case law) |
| Massachusetts | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe (case law) |
| Michigan | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Minnesota | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is reasonable (case law) |
| Mississippi | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Missouri | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Montana | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Nebraska | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home and workplace when it is safe |
| Nevada | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| New Hampshire | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| New Jersey | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe |
| New Mexico | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (jury instruction) |
| New York | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe |
| North Carolina | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| North Dakota | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Ohio | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Oklahoma | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Oregon | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions) |
| Pennsylvania | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes, limited: no duty to retreat outside the home when the attacker displays or uses a lethal weapon (statute) |
| Rhode Island | Duty to retreat outside the home | No: duty to retreat outside the home when it is safe (case law) |
| South Carolina | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| South Dakota | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Tennessee | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Texas | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Utah | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Vermont | Duty to retreat outside the home | No statute; courts require using a safe, available means of escape if one exists |
| Virginia | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat if not at fault in starting the fight (court decisions) |
| Washington | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No duty to retreat (court decisions) |
| West Virginia | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
| Wisconsin | No duty to retreat (court decision) | No statutory duty; jury may consider whether retreat was possible |
| Wyoming | No duty to retreat (statute) | Yes: no duty to retreat outside the home (statute) |
🔎About this data
Whether a person attacked in a public place must retreat (if it can be done safely) before using deadly force in self-defense. Every state allows defense of the home ('castle doctrine'); details in the popup.
Source: State statutes (official legislature code sites), state police / attorney general pages and court orders; citation for every item is in the popup. Compiled by Map the Block, law as of 2026-10-06
Coverage: All 50 states and DC
How it was checked: Drafted from the statutes, then checked against official pages fetched for this layer (state code sites, state police and county pages, court orders, bill-status pages): 80 automated text checks passed across 29 states and 12 more items were settled by reading the page; 7 draft values were corrected that way (WV permitless age, CT long-gun age, MN waiting period, NM injunction scope, ND and MT carry rules, WA training requirement). All states were also compared item by item with a separate summary table (283 comparisons): 3 differences remain, each explained in the report. RAND's database and NCSL refused or block AI crawlers, so neither was used; CA, HI and DC code sites refused or block us, so those states rest on statute citations plus the table cross-check. Law as of 2026-10-06.
💬Questions and answers
Stand your ground: how many states?
As of October 6, 2026: Duty to retreat outside the home: 12 states; No duty to retreat (court decision): 8 states and DC; No duty to retreat (statute): 30 states.
Duty to retreat outside the home: which states?
12 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont.
No duty to retreat (court decision): which states?
8 states and DC: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
No duty to retreat (statute): which states?
30 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming.
Where does this data come from?
State statutes (official legislature code sites), state police / attorney general pages and court orders; citation for every item is in the popup. Compiled by Map the Block, law as of 2026-10-06. Coverage: All 50 states and DC.
Is the map free to use?
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Numbers computed from the live map data on October 18, 2026. Free to quote with credit to “Map the Block (maptheblock.com)”; see reuse terms.