Florida's Republican governor, Rick Scott, announced the formation of a task force on Thursday to "thoroughly review" the law in the wake of the Martin shooting.
"Basically it's a law that fixed something that wasn't broken, and then it created a lot of problems," said William "Willie" Meggs, veteran state attorney for the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Tallahassee, the Florida capital.
"I have been an outspoken critic of the law since it came into existence and I would suspect we may be doing something about it after all the interest we're seeing in it now," he said.
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, at least 23 states have passed laws similar to Florida's since 2005.
Florida does not keep comprehensive records to gauge the impact of Stand Your Ground. But the St. Petersburg Times found that in the first five years after the law was enacted, "justifiable homicides" in Florida more than tripled, to more than 100 in 2010 from just over 30. The Stand Your Ground law was invoked in at least 93 cases over that time period, involving 65 deaths.
Despite assertions from supporters of the law that it has worked as a deterrent of violent crime, Dennis Henigan, a lawyer and veteran vice president of the Brady Campaign, said the state was still saddled with a "tragic record" on violent crime.
"It's quite remarkable how consistently awful Florida's record has been," Henigan said. "It takes some work to finish in the top five in violent crime among all the states every single year for the last 30 years."