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Original intent of ‘stand your ground’ law gets perverted

Florida’s “stand your ground” law is inconsistent and frequently abused — and needs to be repealed immediately, critics charged yesterday.

When lawmakers in the Sunshine State passed the bill in April 2005 after heavy lobbying by the National Rifle Association, it was supposed to extend the right of self-defense that people had in their homes to places like hotel rooms, trailers and cars, said an ex-state senator who co-sponsored the measure.

Instead, the actual use of the law has veered so far from its intent that criminals are going free, former pol Walter “Skip” Campbell told The Post.

As a result, so-called justifiable homicides in Florida have more than doubled since the law was passed, from 43 in 2005 to 105 in 2009, reports show.

“It’s being misinterpreted by law enforcement, and many of the crimes that should be prosecuted are not being prosecuted,” said Queens native Campbell, who is now a lawyer.

“It was not intended for you to take a gun and run somebody down and kill them.”

The policy has so far protected neigborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman from prosecution after shooting unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

“I think it’s a travesty of justice, and the guy who shot him should be prosecuted,” Campbell said.

Judges and juries also seem confounded by it.

In a notable case decided earlier this month, a Miami-Dade judge cited the law in tossing out the case of a man who chased down a suspected burglar and stabbed him to death.

But in January 2011, about 20 people witnessed security guard Chad Bekari Smith shoot two men he claimed had shot at him first. A jury didn’t buy his story, and convicted him of two counts of aggravated battery.

So far, 31 states have the law.

Former Broward County prosecutor David Frankel, now in private practice, has also condemned the law.