Stand Your Ground: It's the hottest phrase in law enforcement since "You have the right to remain silent" or "Just the facts, ma'am" or [insert donut joke here]. But what does it mean?

Stand Your Ground expands on on the Castle Doctrine, which allows private citizens to use deadly force without the obligation to retreat when their home or property is attacked. In 2007, Texas' Stand Your Ground law made virtually any location subject to the same rules, as long as one has a right to be present where deadly force is used, does not provoke the person against whom deadly force is used and is not engaged in criminal activity at the time deadly force is used.

"If someone is invading your home or your place of business, you should not be obligated to retreat. … At the same time, people should never seek a confrontation," Harris County district attorney Pat Lykos told the Houston Chronicle.

So don't confront, but you have a right to confront. What could be confusing about that?

Unsurprisingly, giving any citizen with a concealed handgun license the right to act as his or her own personal police force has led to a jump in the number of justifiable homicides, the Chronicle reports, with the number in Houston more than doubling from 12 to 27 per year between 2007 and 2012.

But that doesn't mean you can shoot just anyone and get away with it. Or can you?

Annie, get your gun, because we've made a helpful guide.

The crime: Stealing a tip jar with $20 in it
Can I shoot them? Yes
When 24-year-old Benito Pantoja tried to run off with a tip jar with $20.24 from taco truck Tacos del Indio, the owner chased him and shot him in the back. It was ruled a justifiable homicide because defense of any property, no matter how small, is legal.

The crime: Neighbors playing music too loud
Can I shoot them? No
A Houston jury has ruled that no matter how many times retired firefighter Raul Rodriguez claimed to be standing his ground during the altercation, his decision to confront his loud neighbors with a gun, eventually shooting one, was unprovoked and illegal — also known as murder.

The crime: Molesting a child
Can I shoot them? Fuck, yes!
If you can't kill a guy that you find raping your 5-year-old daughter, than what's the point of owning a gun? In the Shiner case the child molester was beaten, not shot, and the 9-1-1 call shows that the father made every effort to keep the man alive, including possibly taking him to the hospital himself after medical help got lost en route. I pretty much want to shake his hand and give him a hug.

The crime: Stealing beer from a convenience store
Can I shoot them? Maybe
A confrontation between a 19-year-old convenience store clerk and a 53-year-old mentally ill man is probably never going to end well, and authorities are still deciding whether to press charges in this new case. But if you can kill someone for stealing beer, it's good that law is new — or half of my high school football team would be dead.

The crime: Breaking into a 'fish camp'
Can I shoot them? Yes
The break-in might be one of a series of felony thefts, but if the girl you kill is a pretty, blonde 17-year-old, conservatives are not going to like it.

The crime: Person with history of domestic violence threatening to kill you
Can I shoot them? No?!
That's at least the case for Marissa Alexander, who tried to escape her violent husband after he beat and threatened to kill her. When a malfunction prevented her from escaping through the garage, she returned into the house with her licensed handgun and fired a warning shot into the ceiling. She's now serving 20 years, though you might have better luck if you are not African-American and/or don't live in Florida.

The crime: Walking through neighborhood while wearing hoodie/being black
Can I shoot them? Maybe
George Zimmerman is currently in jail awaiting trial for the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, but it took 60 days, a national outcry and the intervention of the Justice Department to make that happen.