"I don't see why he hasn't been arrested," said Sean Caranna, executive director of Florida Carry, a gun rights group. Caranna also said, "Being the neighborhood watch guy doesn't give you carte blanche to stop and question every guy you see walking down the street".
"You cannot provoke the confrontation. You cannot be the instigator and then claim 'stand your ground,' said Scott Sundby, professor at University of Miami law School.
James C. Collier
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I'm not crazy about that law as worded. If I am in my home or car maybe. But if I am out and about and I can "retreat" to avoid injury without shooting someone why would I not retreat? Shooting someone should be a last resort. All responsible concealed carry permit holders should know this.
ReplyDeleteHowever if I cannot retreat and it is forced upon me and no other alternatives exist I will do what I have to do.
I'm glad that the lawmakers and the gun lobby folks understand how dangerous to self-defense, among other outrages, this case is. I'm greatly, greatly in favour of self-defense but If it's not yet clear that one can't go around provoking the situation, they really need to make it clear. Maybe they should borrow the principles of shared responsability from civil law. Let's say you're found to have contributed more than 50% to the situation, you CANNOT be protected by stand-your-ground.
ReplyDeleteMany twisted laws were crafted with the intent to allow whites to virtually do anything against a black person. Some of the recent gun laws today are a derivative from this.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said "Many twisted laws were crafted with the intent to allow whites to virtually do anything against a black person. Some of the recent gun laws today are a derivative from this."
ReplyDeleteActually, most gun control laws have their roots in governments wanting to make sure that only the "right sort of people" have guns. In other words, gun control laws are aimed at keeping poor black folks from being armed.
Think about it. One of the first gun control laws was the banning of "Saturday Night Specials." That law disproportionately disarmed poor people by taking cheap guns off the market. And in America, anything that disproportionately affects poor people also disproportionately affects black people.
Listen to the 911 tapes. Zimmerman was talking to 911, they heard him breathing hard and asked was he following, he said yes, they said you don't need to do that, he says ok. A moment later he says "he's running" and his breathing returns to normal as he is likely walking back to his truck to meet the officer coming to the scene. 911 is asking him where to meet him. 911 also asks if he lives there and he starts to tell his house number and then stops, saying something like I shouldn't give all that I don't know where this kid is.
ReplyDeleteSo Zimmerman didn't know where Martin was and was afraid he might overhear him tell 911 his address meaning Martin had lost Zimmerman....
So how did they meet? Zimmerman never asked him what he was doing there as he never got the chance.
Instead of walking or running home like anyone should that WAS afraid of someone following them Martin stalked and approached Zimmerman and attacked him. That is not self defense.
Zimmerman did not instigate anything or provoke anything, Martin did.
All Zimmerman is guilty of is following Martin for a distance, nothing more.
Every piece of solid evidence that exists backs that up.