I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6248 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide an affirmative defense 
for certain criminal violations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2021 
Mr. GAETZ (for himself, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. STEUBE, Mrs. GREENE of Geor-
gia, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide an affirm-
ative defense for certain criminal violations, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stand Your Ground 
Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. CERTAIN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES. 
(a) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—Part I of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter: 
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‘‘CHAPTER 124—AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES 
‘‘SEC. 2730. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE FOR CERTAIN CRIMI-
NAL VIOLATIONS. 
‘‘(a) USE OR THREATENED USE OF FORCE IN DE-
FENSE OF PERSON.—It shall be an affirmative defense to 
a violation of this title if: 
‘‘(1) A person is justified in using, threatening, 
or attempting to use force, except deadly force, 
against another when and to the extent that the per-
son reasonably believes that such conduct is nec-
essary to defend himself or herself or another 
against an agressor’s imminent use of unlawful 
force. A person who uses or threatens to use force 
in accordance with this paragraph does not have a 
duty to retreat before using or threatening to use 
such force. 
‘‘(2) A person is justified in using, threatening, 
or attempting to use deadly force if he or she rea-
sonably believes that using, threatening, or attempt-
ing to use such force is necessary to prevent immi-
nent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself 
or another or to prevent the imminent commission of 
a forcible felony. A person who uses, threatens, or 
attempts to use deadly force in accordance with this 
paragraph does not have a duty to retreat and has 
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the right to stand his or her ground if the person 
using, threatening, or attempts to use the deadly 
force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in 
a place where he or she has a right to be. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) DUTY TO RETREAT.—The term ‘duty to 
retreat’ means that if a person is under attack, he 
or she should first seek retreat as the preferred al-
ternative to using force to act in self-defense. 
‘‘(2) FORCIBLE
FELONY.—The term ‘forcible 
felony’ includes treason, murder, manslaughter, sex-
ual battery, carjacking, home-invasion robbery, rob-
bery, burglary, arson, kidnapping, aggravated as-
sault, aggravated battery, aggravated stalking, air-
craft piracy, unlawful throwing, placing, or dis-
charging of a destructive device or bomb, and any 
other felony which involves the use or threat of phys-
ical force or violence against any individual. 
‘‘(3) STAND YOUR GROUND.—The term ‘stand 
your ground’ means the allowance of an individual 
to defend himself or herself by any means necessary 
when his or her life is threatened.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend-
ments made under subsection (a) shall take effect on the 
date of the enactment of this Act and may be used as 
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an affirmative defense by a defendant in the prosecution 
of a criminal offense initiated after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
Æ 
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