Less than four months after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, FL, a task force appointed by the state’s governor is evaluating the very law that may have allowed the death to take place. The Task Force for Citizen Safety and Protection, appointed by Florida Governor Rick Scott, began holding its first public hearing on Tuesday morning in Longwood, FL, near where Martin was killed in February. The panel, whose chairwoman is Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, does not intend to address Martin’s death itself or the case of Zimmerman, who is currently being held in the Seminole County jail. Instead, the panel is focusing on the implications and effects of the stand your ground law in practice, and, according to Carroll, the location of the first public hearing would also give its community members some “closure” over the wide-ranging national response to the shooting.

Following Martin’s death, Florida’s stand your ground law—which was enacted in 2005, and allows an individual to use deadly force given fear of danger or serious harm—became heavily debated, both nationally and state-wide, as many questioned its practicality and suggested the influence of racial bias. The opinions of local Floridians, both leading up to and at the hearing itself, display the same divided perspectives that characterized much of the national debate. Among 6,600 e-mails to the Task Force prior to Tuesday’s hearing, one challenges the Task Force to repeal the law and not allow “murderers to walk free,” while another questioned the need to examine the law.

Opinions at the public hearing were similarly contrasting. Following presentations regarding the law by prosecutors, public defenders, and law enforcement officials, community members presented mixed sentiments at the public hearing, between those who asserted the need for self-protection where police were not present, and those, like Trayvon Martin’s parents, who are unsure whether the law is just or, at the very least, is being applied justly.

Although Florida was the first state to enact such a law, 24 other states have enforced similar versions of the law. In April, a civil rights activist filed suit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to challenge Georgia’s stand your ground law for being too vague and leading to the prejudiced killings of minorities. Nevertheless, none of those cases have attracted the nation’s attention as has the case of Trayvon Martin. As a result, the Task Force—which will continue to hold meetings statewide, and will make recommendations regarding whether the law should be changed—will no doubt be closely watched by much of the nation.