JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Stand Your Ground laws are being criticized after a Missouri teenager was shot twice when he mistakenly knocked on a front door looking for his younger brothers.

Mississippi has a Stand Your Ground law in place. Under the law, Mississippians have the right to defend themselves with deadly force when in danger of being physically harmed, assaulted, raped, killed or to defend their property.

One Mississippi law expert believes the Stand Your Ground law does more harm than good.

“What I think makes this law troubling is it gives some people the impression that they have more legal right to shoot someone than they really do. When people hear they have a right to stand their ground and a right to defend their property, they may overestimate the protections of the laws and believe that could shoot someone who rings the doorbell or vandalizes their mailbox, and they cannot, not lawfully,” explained Matt Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College School of Law.

Stand Your Ground cases must be proven as a necessary defense in a court of law.