Showing posts with label Stand Your Ground law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stand Your Ground law. Show all posts

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Over-Armed America Reason for Police Violence?


What do you expect from police who know there are 300 million guns on the street and that every person or car they approach might be armed and dangerous. That's almost one gun per person but, then, it is when you consider infants that are too young. This is compounded now as the black community has decided the only way to keep from getting killed is to legally arm themselves. A move which has caused a slim majority in favor of gun rights over gun control for the first time in decades, according to Pew Research. All this because the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has pushed for years to put more guns on the street. Salon says "more armed citizens will not make police work any easier—if anything, they will only make it more challenging."

When you add to all this the Stand Your Ground law passed by over twenty states, also ramrodded by the NRA, this gun lobby has created a "shoot first" society as Salon puts it. Gun rights proponents led by John Lott claim that privately armed individuals are more qualified than the police, which, of course, is absurd, and it is no way to build relations between the community and cops. Lott, a gun radical even eggs on gun owners to vigilantism which has to eventually result in violence itself. The recent outbreaks in violence in cities like Ferguson, MO, and Baltimore MD, may just be the tip of the iceberg as the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) goes merrily on its way putting more guns on the street.

Monday, June 4, 2012

2nd Amendment repeal not likely. I’ll settle for an amendment to the Amendment

The 2nd Amendment:A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

It rings in our ears because the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has shoved it down our throats for years.  To this conglomeration of thugs it means that anyone can own a gun, take it anywhere they want, with little or absolutely no training.  The best example of a NRA state is Arizona with the loosest gun laws in the country.

It is followed, or maybe even equaled by, Florida, where the now infamous Stand Your Ground law made its debut, and is now probably responsible for the death of black, unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman’s gun, an inexpensive 9 mm semiautomatic known as the Kel-Tec 9 mm PF-9.  As a neighborhood watch captain Zimmerman wasn’t even supposed to be carrying a weapon and the 911 dispatcher told him to let police handle the situation.

Studies have proven that these gun worshippers sometimes try to replicate law enforcement in a situation such as this with results that are tragic, which this one was.  It didn’t have to happen; if only Zimmerman had stayed in his car.  And there would probably have been no altercation at all if there wasn’t a concealed carry law in Florida.  A total of 49 states have passed laws allowing citizens to carry certain concealed firearms in public, either with or without a permit.

There are three unrestricted states: Alaska, Arizona and Vermont.  An Unrestricted jurisdiction is one in which no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun.  In Arizona the concealed carrier can even skip a background check by making the purchase at a gun show where NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, proved it was as easy as…just asking.  But Arizona takes it one step further.  You don’t have to have firearms training.

Josh Sugarmann
Josh Sugarmann is the founder and executive director of the Violence Policy Center an organization that is attempting to reduce gun violence in the United States.  He cites an incident where Meleanie Hain insisted on taking her loaded Glock pistol to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game in Lebanon, Pa.  This didn’t sit well with the crowd so they complained.  After the game her permit was revoked but reinstated by the court.  She became an open-carry hero.

The judge even urged her not to carry her gun to the soccer games, but Hain decided she knew best because she was afraid of murderers and terrorists.  Even others who might have concealed weapons to harm her like the young soccer players or other fans.  Do you believe this idiot?  She is more brain-washed than the NRA’s graying granny Marion Hammer. 

Sugarman says: “At least 402 victims have been killed in 32 states since May 2007 in non-self-defense incidents involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns.”

Sugarman continues, “In October 2009, Hain was gunned down in her home by her husband who, after firing six shots into her with his handgun (hers was in a backpack hanging off a door), went upstairs and ended his own life with a shotgun blast.  Meleanie Hain believed that a handgun—on her hip or in her home—guaranteed her personal safety.”  It didn’t.  Not only was she wrong about the security of a concealed weapon, her actions left her children without parents.

Constance Johnson, a Democratic State Senator in Oklahoma, thinks “Open Carry Is an Invitation to Chaos.”  She makes some good points like, are the armed gun owners trustworthy?; Open carry sounds good but is it realistic in today’s society?; reiterates that law enforcement is against these laws; the 2nd Amendment in its inception was truly for protection during lawlessness but has evolved into nothing but a crutch for the NRA.

So is the U.S. Congress softening its stance on gun control?  On TownHall Brian Darling points out one bill among several designed to restore and preserve 2nd Amendment rights that have stalled in the House and Senate.  Among the bills ready for action is S.2205, the Second Amendment Sovereignty Act, that would bar the Administration from signing onto the Arms Trade Treaty.  The head of Gun Owners of America wants action if Congress expects their votes in Nov.

I know there are reasonable-minded gun owners out there; I have talked to them through comments on this blog.  There are also the gun nuts who are capable only of doing what the NRA tells them to.  It is the former group that must consider revising the 2nd Amendment.  Things like mandatory background checks and adequate training for gun owners.  Closing the gun show loophole and eliminating open/concealed carry except for law enforcement and unusual needs.

This NRA bullshit of no compromise of any kind is getting old and probably beginning to open the eyes of many non-gun owners out there that are starting to believe that just maybe gun control is a good idea.  You can only push your point so far and when the negatives in your issue—like multiple shooting deaths on a daily basis now—begin to be obvious, the momentum is bound to shift.  I think we are on the verge of this happening today.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Florida man provided driving force behind “Stand Your Ground” law

An elderly James Workman in Pensacola, Florida was the impulse for the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) to devise and advance Florida’s, the nation’s first, “Stand Your Ground” law in 2005.  It was November 3, 2004, at 2 a.m., seven weeks after Hurricane Ivan made landfall, when FEMA worker Rodney Cox came to the Workman’s door and asked for a drink of water.  Workman and his wife were in a temporary RV in the driveway of their unlivable home. 

Residents were on edge following an earlier incident where police had to subdue a man with a machete at the house next door.  Rodney Cox approached the workman’s front door as Kathryn Workman—awake because she couldn’t sleep—watched, then woke her husband who grabbed his .38 pistol and confronted Cox.  After mumbling and asking for a drink of water, Workman ordered him off his property, firing a warning shot.

At that point they say Cox dashed toward the trailer where Kathryn was waiting, a phone in one hand, her own .38 in the other.  She screamed at the 911 operator who heard a struggle, then was told by the wife that her husband had shot the intruder, who apparently got up after being shot.  In the hours before being shot Cox had called 911 himself to report he had been a victim of domestic violence, his skull fractured, possibly explaining his disoriented condition. 

It was this particular episode that was the motivation for “Stand Your Ground.”  But, interestingly, the Workmans were never asked to testify at the legislative session considering the law.  They had to find out about it on the evening news.  It would almost appear that the NRA saw the incident as an excuse to enact another stupid law that is now being questioned in many of the states where it has been passed. 

Then on to another loose gun state, Texas, where Jose Luis Gonzales, fed up with burglaries at his house, shot and killed Francisco Anguiano, 13, when he broke into Gonzales’ house around midnight.  He was with three other kids ranging in ages from 11 to 15, and was shot in the back with a shotgun.  Looking for snacks, the boys were told to “drop it” referring to a bag of Cheetos, then said they were smacked with the shotgun.  They ended up on the floor face-down.


Texas guns

Uriel Druker, Webb County district attorney said the kids were subdued and “weren’t going to go at him.”  Gonzales was screaming at them to stay down, all of this which Druker said disproves Gonzales’ claim of self-defense.  Gonzales said he thought the 13-year-old was about to “lunge” at him.  Now common sense would tell most of us that, assuming the kid was on his stomach on the floor, and was shot for lunging at Gonzales, how did he get shot in the back?

The medical examiner even confirmed this, and, according to Druker, the homeowner didn’t even mention the kids lunging at him until he retained a lawyer.  It only took three hours for a jury to acquit Gonzales.  When Druker later confronted jurors meeting them around town, he asked why the jury agreed to acquit.  The standard answer was that they feared losing their right to protect their own homes.  That is gun mentality at its worse.  The statute was on trial.

The CNN article in the above link says, “The shooters feel remorse but are resolute in the belief that the law is on their side.”  I say that is a double-edged sword, and one these self-styled vigilantes should have to fall on instead of their victims.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

When does self-defense become murder?

The “Stand Your Ground” law has taken flak since Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in Florida where the legislation was enacted for the first time under the complete supervision of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) in 2005.  Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder and there is some concern over Zimmerman’s pursuit of Martin in the incident, which the bill’s sponsors say was not intended as an option.

It’s like playing Wyatt Earp or vigilante, and we all know that isn’t allowed anywhere but in Arizona.  Precisely where SYG was re-enacted recently; that state passed the law in 2006 after only 20 seconds of justification by the NRA before legislators.  A total of 33 states have passed a similar version that allows the expansion of deadly force in protecting yourself outside the home.  Some question whether the 2nd Amendment intended this.

Typical Arizona shootings yellow tape
Arizona just couldn’t wait to test the law and one of the state’s gun worshippers decided to do just that on April 3, at a Taco Bell in Laveen.  He shot Daniel Adkins, Jr. in what he claimed was self-defense.  The young man was 29 but with the mental capacity of a 13-year-old.  The shooter was not charged.  Adkins was walking past a Taco Bell just as the 22-year-old shooter was picking up his order.  The latter slammed on his brakes barely missing Adkins.

The two men exchanged words and according to the shooter Adkins swung his hands in the air in the direction of the SUV.  The question at this point is whether the shooter almost hit Adkins with his SUV; if so, who was the instigator of this altercation?  Or is that not considered under the SYG law?  Adkins wasn’t even close enough to touch the vehicle but when he waved his hands in the air again, the driver shot him with his S&W 40-caliber weapon, hitting him in the chest.

Adkins was not armed but the shooter “believed” he was carrying due to what he thought he saw was a metal pipe or bat in the victim’s hand.  Since the shooter’s fiancĂ© was also in the car with him, it will be interesting to hear her take on the event.  CNN spoke to the shooter’s father who, behind the door of his home warned the reporter that he had a gun in his hand.  He did defend his son’s use of deadly force.  He also said witnesses said that Adkins “went berserk.”

Adkins family later said that all Daniel had in his hand, what the shooter thought was a weapon, was the leash of his loyal dog, a yellow lab named Lady.

In this retaliation Adkins is purported to say: “What the hell, you almost hit me,” and “watch where the f*** you’re going.”  Sounds like substantiation of the fact that the driver almost did hit him, and his following tirade does not appear to justify the taking of the man’s life.  It sounds more like wild-west justice based solely on the fact that the NRA has apparently driven home the ideology to its members and the public that it is OK to shoot first and ask questions later.

Local TV coverage of Daniel Adkins killing:

The senior Atkins told CNN, "Why didn't he shoot my son in the leg? It would've stopped him. He hit him right straight in the heart. He shot to kill."  Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California, said:
"When you arm people on the streets, the opportunities for tragic shootings like the one in the Martin case increase."  A 2007 Nat’l Dist. Attorney’s study also found that law enforcement is concerned over the “Stand Your Ground” laws.

In the next post, the incident that spawned the “Stand Your Ground” laws.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Gun owners need “rigorous training” according to the experts

Ariz. Wis. gun bubba
Don’t know about your state but in Arizona you can buy a handgun and carry it around anywhere you want to, even concealed, and you don’t have to have 1 second of training.  You can imagine the danger running around the streets of this state, gun worshippers with a gun in their pocket who don’t have the slightest idea how to use it.  Concealed carry advocate, Todd Nehls, wants the gun population better trained, no doubt recognizing the stupidity of Arizona gun laws.

Nehls is the Sheriff of Dodge County, Wisconsin, and although I disagree with his support of concealed carry, he has made some good points that should be considered seriously by the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its membership.  Nehls asks all gun owners, “Are you ready?” meaning have you had sufficient training that would allow you in an emergency in your home to act responsibly.  I replace his reference to a “store” because I believe guns belong at home.

Nehls offers that “In Wisconsin, the state Department of Justice has received more than 108,000 applications for concealed carry permits…” since the state made it legal in December of 2011.  And I thought Arizona was gun crazy.  But the training these people will end up with is nothing compared to what law enforcement officers will receive.  Here’s the difference according to Nehls:

“…law enforcement officers go through several hours of incident simulation training a year to prepare them for pulling the trigger on another person. They face off with instructors or other officers, firing high-speed paintball shells at each other. Military personnel also go through rigorous training so they know the ramifications of pulling the trigger.  {The cops} can be put through any of 350 different scenarios that they might encounter on the street.”


Is this a joke?

OK.  Let’s stop right here for a bit of debate on whether or not these cowboys who claim that they need a gun in their possession to protect themselves in case of an emergency are ready for the challenge.  Unless you are a former cop or were trained in the military, you are not!  One of your own has just made my point and you can quote all of the NRA garbage you want, even bring Wayne LaPierre to my house to argue, but your premise is still pure crap.

Wisconsin’s Trayvon Martin was an innocent 20-year-old black man by the name of Bo Morrison who was killed by Adam Kind.  Morrison had fled from a party being raided by police and hid on a fully enclosed porch at the back of Kind’s home.  In this instance the intruder was in someone’s home, but the question is to what extent was Kind in danger to make him shoot in supposed self defense.  Nehls said a trained cop would have yelled a challenge.  Did Kind?

Brian Dorow, associate dean in the department of criminal justice, homeland security and counterterrorism said, “Generally, deadly force - intentional use of a firearm that could result in a death - is justified only when someone reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm.


Stand Your Ground Law
 Did either Adam Kind or George Zimmerman believe this?  It’s doubtful based on the information we have in both scenarios.  But it would be most interesting to know how much training each had in the handling of a handgun.  My gut tells me again that a sufficient amount is doubtful.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

48 dead from 49 shootings across U. S. in March alone…See timeline below

When will the American public understand that guns do kill people and that it is the proliferation of these weapons throughout the country that is causing the deaths of our family, friends and neighbors?  Not until these same people say no to the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and similar gun rights groups and put them in their place.  And that would be as provocateurs of the death and violence that has taken place since these organizations have diluted gun laws nationwide.

It is that simple.  Looking back at Columbine, then Virginia Tech, followed by the Loughner massacre in Tucson, AZ that almost took former Rep. Gabby Giffords life and left her with years of rehabilitation, the T.J. Lane mass shooting in Chardon, OH, it isn’t hard to see how we have easily arrived at the point where no one seems to know just what to do about the recent shooting of the black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. 

We don’t know whether to blame it on George Zimmerman, the lax gun laws of Florida and other states like it, the NRA, the U.S. Congress, or an apathetic public that has allowed congressional and state legislators, who are gun worshippers, to give the NRA and their cronies a free-reign.

NRA "gun control"
Well, it’s all of the above.  Nobody listens to the gun control advocates who have been predicting increased violence for years if gun laws continue to loosen.  As an example, 29 states have the ‘Stand Your Ground” law and 4 more are considering it.  Yes, statistics do indicate some violence is going down across the country, but you can’t prove it by the above figures.  One of these reported deaths was a 3-year-old who shot himself with a family gun he found in their car.

If you have the patience, and the guts, to learn more about what is going on in gun-crazy America, take the time to read the following documentation of the 49 shootings that left 48 dead in just this past March.

        • March 6, Jacksonville, FL, 2 dead when fired teacher kills school head, then himself.
        • March 7, Tulsa County, OK, 3 hospitalized after being shot in Courthouse Plaza.
        • March 8, Pittsburgh, PA, 2 dead, 7 hurt at psychiatric hospital.
        • March 9, Montesano, WA, Officer shot, Judge stabbed at Grays Harbor County Courthouse.
        • March 12, Las Vegas, NV, 5 shot at a resort casino parking structure which was thought to be gsng-related.
        • March 12, Lamoine, ME, 1 dead, 3 injured in weekend shooting.
        • March 13, Sanford, FL, Trayvon Martin is shot and killed by watch captain George Zimmerman, supposedly in self-defense.
        • March 13, Gallup, NM, 2 killed, a father and son, 2 wounded, in total of 4 shootings within two hours.
        • March 14, Little Rock, AR, 1 dead, shot by 9-year-old sister while parents away from their apartment.  The girl was autistic.
        • March 14, Phoenix, AZ, 1 dead, 1 wounded at an apartment complex.
        • March 14, Tacoma, WA, 3-year-old dead after shooting himself with gun he found in family car.
        • March 14, Jefferson County, TX, 1 dead, at least two injured at Texas courthouse.
        • March 14, Houston, TX, 1 killed at rave party where from 300 to 600 teens were crowded into a house.
        • March 16, Glendale, AZ, 3 dead in apparent murder/suicide, two were man’s young sons.
        • March 18, Fayetteville, NC, 1 highschooler dead in nightclub gang fight.
        • March 18, Fayetteville, NC, less than an hour from above, 1 dead at another club shooting in the parking lot.
        • March 18, Chicago, IL, 5 dead, 12 wounded, in attacks across the Chicago metro-area.
        • March 18, Indianapolis, IN, 5 teens shot in downtown Indianapolis, some injuries believed to be life-threatening.
        • March 18, Bourbon, MO, 4 dead including woman and three children at a campground resort.  Could be murder/suicide.
        • March 18, Oak Hill, WV, 3 dead including two women found in a home.  Shooter was 83-year-old man.
        • March 19, Lacey, WA, 1 dead, 2 wounded in Seattle suburb, requiring eight schools to go on lockdown.
        • March 20, Gilbert, AZ, 1 wounded, a 12-year-old girl shot by her 10-year-old brother.  Father a police officer, but gun owner unknown.
        • March 20, Newport, RI, 1 dead 1 injured, in shooting and stabbing, an assault according to police.
        • March 21, Avondale, OH, 4-year-old wounded when walking home from a cookout.
        • March 21, Avondale, OH, 1 wounded in aggravated robbery.
        • March 23, Ypsilanti, MI, 3 wounded during apparent attempted narcotics sale resulting from argument over price of pills.
        • March 23, Burlington, IA, 1 man dead, 1 woman wounded in head who then shot boyfriend in the head several times in a fight killing him, all over their relationship.
        • March 24, Oakland, CA, 1 boy dead in shooting going to a house party.
        • March 24, Oakland, CA, 1 man dead, 1 woman seriously wounded.
        • March 24, Rogue Valley, OR, 1 dead, wife murdered by her husband with 10-year-old son at home.
        • March 24, Rogue Valley, OR, 1 dead in White City shooting.
        • March 25, Starkville, MS, 1 dead at Mississippi State U. in his campus room.
        • March 26, Decatur, GA, 1 teen shot to death by apartment security guards.  The investigation is on-going.
        • March 30, Lake Charles, LA, 1 dead, 1 wounded in shooting where drugs were involved.
        • March 30, Lake Charles, LA, 1 wounded in another drug deal gone bad.
        • March 30, Batesville, MS, 2 dead, at least 3 wounded in an apartment complex, apparently gang-related.
        • March 30, Phoenix, AZ, 1 dead at apartment complex.
        • March 30, Chicago, IL, 1 dead, 5 wounded at a convenience store.
        • March 31, Chicago, IL, 2 dead, 11 wounded, including the nephew (wounded) of Miami heat star Dwyane Wade.
        • March 31, Prince Georges County, VA, 3 wounded in Hyattsville in residential area.
        • March 31, Miami, FL, 2 dead, 12 injured in mass shooting during a funeral.  Wounded included a 5-year-old girl.
If you have survived this far, I won’t keep you any longer except to say, I’ve been telling you so.   

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Gun sales surge while shootings continue to occur on a daily basis


Zimmerman's weapon of choice
9mm semi-automatic

It took the death of Trevon Martin in Florida for those of us who are sane to begin questioning insane gun laws like Florida’s “stand your ground” legislation that allowed George Zimmerman to shoot and ask questions later.  Of course there was no answer, since the round from Zimmerman’s Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm semi-automatic pistol found its way into the black teen’s chest and killed him.  No doubt this has already prompted another run on handguns…just in case.

The “just in case” is for a lot of things like, naturally centered around more gun control, but primarily because gun worshippers are afraid that Barack Obama will cut loose in his second term with tougher controls over the purchase of weapons.  As well he should, but so far we have seen no indication of this kind of move, except, in a recent conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev where the President made the following comments:


Obama and Medvedev

Obama asked Medvedev to let Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin know that he needed to “give me space” to deal with objections to the U.S.’s missile- defense plan.

“This is my last election, and after my election I have more flexibility,” Obama said to the Russian leader.

“I understand,” Medvedev replied in English, adding that he would “transmit this information to Vladimir.”

Although the above concerns a completely different issue, it was clear when Obama ran in 2008 that he had an interest at the time in some form of sane gun control.  Then, not only was he hit by the gun bubbas in Congress, but the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby attacked him repeatedly through its membership and a perpetual media campaign.  The idea was to whip the public into a frenzy that the new president wanted to take away their guns.  It worked.

Excellent video on "Stand your Ground" law, below:



Gun buyers overwhelmed the retail locations in 2011, prompting a record 16.4 million instant criminal background checks of potential owners, up 14.2 percent from 2010, according to the FBI.  Even though some were denied or the transaction wasn’t completed for some reason, others purchased multiple weapons. 

It was just last week that gun maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. announced the company was forced to temporarily suspend its acceptance of any new firearms orders due to a barrage of wholesale orders, already 1 million in 2012.


Reasonable gun control

It is obvious that most of the approximately 16 million new guns in 2011 went into responsible gun-owning households.  However, that’s one new gun per 20 individuals, almost 8 new guns per household.  To me these figures are ludicrous when you consider the fact that there are already millions of weapons out there in homes and on the street.  How many more do we need? 

Will the National Rifle Assn. be satisfied when the figure hits the billions, if it hasn’t already? 

MSNBC says, “Correlating state laws and gun sales is difficult, but in Utah and Texas — two states that have ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws" — pre-purchase background checks rose by 84.5 percent and 19.3 percent respectively in 2011.  In California and New York — two states that do not have ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws — background checks rose by 10.9 and 12.6 percent respectively, according to the FBI.” 

NRA spokeswoman Stephanie Samford said: “People are really just putting a premium on personal safety.”  With 8 new guns in a household, you can buy a lot of safety.  I wonder if that is really what it’s all about.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

NRA pushed “stand your ground” law that may be responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death

The Florida law that is currently protecting watch captain George Zimmerman, termed “stand your ground,” was brought to the organization American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) by the National Rifle Assn.  ALEC, a national organization that fosters legislation primarily anti-consumer, has promoted the concept to states nationwide resulting in several laws passed similar to Florida’s. 

It is one of the bills supported by ALEC disproportionately impacting communities of color, according to the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch.  The question is whether it prompted Zimmerman to take vigilante justice into his own hands resulting in action that he was not authorized to carry out.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a front for back-room closed-door sessions between big business and state legislatures to draft legislation that benefits business.  The center for Media and Democracy has been fighting this organization for some time now, and I have done two past articles you can see here and here.  One of the major problems with ALEC is its secrecy in bringing biased legislation to states that is often passed as presented.

This law, also known as the “Castle Doctrine,” changes state criminal justice and civil law codes by giving legal immunity to a person who uses deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.  It also bars the deceased's family from bringing a civil suit.  Additional information suggests Zimmerman acted as he did because the teen was black.

Florida Senator Durell Peadon introduced the law with NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, reportedly staring down legislators as they voted, according to CMD.  Afterwards Hammer presented the bill to ALEC where the NRA “boasted” it was “well-received,” after which all corporations and state legislators on the Task Force unanimously approved the bill as an ALEC model.  At last count, 25 states had the “stand your ground law.”

See Al JaZeera video below of Former federal prosecutor Michael Wildes discussing the NRA's power and the need for improved gun safety and control laws:



Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, a devoted ALEC alum, signed a bill into law in his state in 2011 with the key elements of the Castle Doctrine included.  On March 3 of this year, 20-year-old college student Bo Morrison was shot and killed by a homeowner in Slinger, Wisconsin as the young man hid from police after attending an underage drinking party.  Because of the Castle Doctrine, no charges will be filed in the shooting. Like Trayvon Martin, Morrison was black.


Trayvon Martin

Former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey says the “stand your ground” law is “a license to kill,” noting that the number of justifiable homicides in Florida has tripled since the law was passed in 2005.  CMD says, “The Castle Doctrine and its ‘stand your ground’ provisions give license for people to engage in vigilantism without liability.  As such, the ALEC bill can put the decision to take a life in the hands of a person whose fears are motivated by prejudice and racial bias.

To my knowledge and at this writing, the NRA has made no official comment about the Trayvon Martin death, nor has it commented on the “stand your ground” law in relation to whether George Zimmerman acted correctly in his shooting of the black teen ager.  I read somewhere recently a headline that said, “George Zimmerman is the NRA.”  If that statement is correct, the Florida incident could well be the catalyst to more gun control in the future.

Read more here.

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