Kathleen Hoague, a top prosecutor in Miami-Dade County also was thrown by Bloom's decision.

"We feel the judge abused her discretion," she told the Herald. "The law does not allow for you to use deadly force to retrieve your property."

Whether someone acted in self-defense is a decision best left to a jury, she added.

Baxley, the law's sponsor, defended Stand Your Ground, saying it is sound legislation and that police and prosecutors are working out kinks, as they would with any new law.

"I think if anything, it's more a learning curve on how to apply it that's developing," Baxley observed. "You'll always have cases that are a close call."

The human toll

Stand Your Ground has turned the language of law enforcement on its head. Who are the victims? Who are the aggressors?

The police report in the Workman case refers to him and his wife as "the actual victims," even though some might call Rodney Cox the victim. He didn't steal anything or raise his hand -- and lay dead on the floor of an RV.

Perhaps, everyone is a victim in some way.

In each of the four cases CNN examined, split-second decisions carried tragic consequences -- for everyone. Families of the dead agonize over the "what ifs." The shooters feel remorse but are resolute in the belief that the law is on their side.

In Arizona, a family raised a special needs son with extra care, only to lose him after a dispute at a fast-food restaurant. A few blocks away, a father worries that his son will be arrested and vilified like he says George Zimmerman was.

In Texas, a boy will never grow up, and a homeowner has to live with the consequences of taking a life to stop a group of teenagers from stealing snacks.

In Florida, a working man from out of town never returned home because he was mistaken for a prowler. A retired couple was pushed into the limelight by politics and a law they never sought.

And a bag of stolen car radios worth practically nothing cost a Florida man his life. The man who stabbed him doesn't know whether prosecutors will succeed in charging him.

Laurie Levenson, the Loyola Law School professor, said the criminal justice system will sort out the issues presented by the individual cases, but added, "The bigger issue of what America is going to do about its love-hate relationship with guns deserves our attention."

Those who mourn loved ones say there always was another, less extreme option. Lashing out with a gun, a knife, or a bat only escalates a bad situation into a violent one.

Terri Lavery, whose brother was killed by Workman, says she owns guns and knows how to use them. But Stand Your Ground, she adds, is "a bad, bad law that gives people an excuse to just blow people away. Fire now and deal with the consequences later. It's a bad law because it is based on lies and half-truths."

She said she thought she had forgiven Workman and made her peace. But the Trayvon Martin case stirred up old emotions, and now she isn't sure she can ever forgive.

Across two time zones, the family of Daniel Adkins Jr. also struggles to find compassion for the man who shot him, even if they think he was wrong and should be prosecuted.

There were so many other options, Adkins' father said. "He could have driven away. He could have rolled up his window and called police.

"This is a young kid, who made a horrible decision," he added. "I hate his actions, but I don't hate him."

It isn't easy on those who sling the guns or swing the knives, either.

The father of the young man who shot Adkins says the family feels a heavy burden every day, even if his son hasn't been charged with a crime.

He hasn't slept well since the shooting and his son literally is sick over killing someone - throwing up whenever he thinks about it.

But that doesn't change the fact he was doing what the law allowed him to, his father is quick to add.