Thirdpower rubs it in for opponents a bit that the task force that will examine Florida’s gun laws seems set to have a number of pro-gun people on it, which likely mean it’s not meant to come to a predetermined conclusion in favor of gun control. In fact, this probably won’t end well for our opponents. They seem to believe that this is it. This is the big one. The event that makes the pendulum swing back around in their favor.
The thing is, I’m not sure they won’t ultimately be right in the end. The case against Zimmerman is so thin you could shine a candle through it, which makes it ripe for being dismissed under Florida’s immunity statute. If cities ultimately burn because our opponents managed to amp up the mob, things could get very bad for us. But whether the pendulum ultimately swings or not, is up to us. We’re a movement that can turn out close to 74,000 people in crappy weather in St. Louis. There’s really no excuse for getting our butts handed to us by these people.
I would think that if cities being to burn over-all opinion in this country for the right to have a gun to defend yourself would actually grow not shrink. There’s nothing like the uncertainty of civilization and the potential collapse of society to make people ask “Hmmm… maybe I ought to get a gun to protect myself from this mayhem.”
+1.
You think prices were high with the Obama-craze just wait until mobs light something on fire in more than one city. Ruger would need a 4th shift.
$400 stripped lowers and $800/1k case of M855 here we come!
What BrokenAndy said: The Lynch Mob voices of the Anti-Zimmermans and the malignant dis-quiet of the #OWS crowd is not a siren-call for gun-control, it’s a trumpet-call to man the battlements WITH a gun.
I tend to agree with BrokenAndy and DirtCrashr. However, I do know that the state of emergency gun ban in North Carolina did come in reaction to the cities burning after MLK was assassinated. That said, it was to keep the blacks unarmed in the face of white law enforcement.
I do agree with Sebastian that our opponents will show no hesitation about inciting mob violence if Zimmerman is ultimately found either not guilty or the charges are dismissed by the judge.
“They” will screw themselves good and hard if they burn cities over this. Anyone who didn’t hang OWS on Obama will come around this time, and the political left will be sidelined for generations to come.
If it weren’t for the violence that would come with it, I’d hope for that outcome.
You’re incorrect. The SYG provides for the accused to have a hearing to determined whether he is qualified for immunity under the SYG statute. I happen to agree with this provision, but if Zimmerman’s case is tossed per this immunity, SYG will certainly come under attack.
Sebastian, who exactly are ‘they’ and ‘these people’ in the context of your post? The linked articles refer to the CSGV and local Florida Democrats. How exactly are they ‘amping up the mob’?
I don’t doubt that there is a mob mentality, but I’m not seeing any mainstream politicians out there talking or tweeting about lynching Zimmerman or rioting. Just idiots. And Ted Nugent.
I am stocking up on ammo.
Unless one party or the other is definitely shown to have started the fight, the question will always remain. Zimmerman will get off due to SYG and the body politic will roar that a young kid was stalked and murdered and that the SYG laws let it happen.
Sebastian is right – this time the middle solution is the bad solution.
That case needs a ‘finding’ that people can accept, regardless of what that finding is: guilty or innocent. If Zimmerman walks because nobody can prove nothing, then expect SYG laws nationwide to take a hit. Florida may not change, but not everyone in this nation lives in Florida. There will be great pressure to make every state a ‘duty to retreat’ state, which is just another way to say “choose the form of your destructor – your attacker or your local prosecutor.”
I wouldn’t be happy with the Florida Task Force. The fact it even exists is proof we got a serious problem to deal with.
No, he won’t get off “due to SYG”. SYG has nothing to do with it. If he gets off, it will be because the court finds that he was under attack and reasonably in fear for his life. Please stop perpetuating the notion that this is a SYG case. It’s not. It’s an plain, old-fashioned self defense case.
This is true until Zimmerman’s lawyers move for the immunity the SYG statute provides for.
But then, this becomes an issue of “Do we grant immunity to those who are found Not Guilty by Reason of Self Defense”?
It’s always annoyed me that someone found “Not Guilty” in a court of law can then be sued by the “victims” in Civil Law. It’s always smacked too much of double jeopardy.
As guilty as I think OJ is, for example, as soon as the Jury found him Not Guilty, that should have been the end of it. How the heck could you be responsible for a “wrongful death” that the Prosecutor couldn’t convict you of?
I own a home in Florida and have spent fair time there. Also have talked this law (pre-Zimmerman) with my local (FL) law-enforcement and city officials, pre-Zimmerman. I was tracking SYG cases in Florida long before Martin’s bag of Skittles hit the pavement.
We cannot predict anything with certainty, but only an idiot lawyer would not ask for the SYG hearing allowed under Florida law. It can quash an indictment before a trial ever takes place. It is unique to Florida, as far as I know.
If the hearing takes place and a judge decides that self-defense is at play, he can dismiss the entire case before a trial. Done.
In such a case, Zimmerman will be released from further obligation before a trial. That is unique to “Stand Your Ground” in Florida. That means the SYG would have let Zimmerman off prior to a jury verdict.
You can agree or disagree with that outcome, but to argue that SYG does not apply in this case – when a defendant is cleared using a process that was created and exists solely because of the SYG statute – is preposterous. A “plain old-fashioned self defense case” would require a jury. SYG in Florida opens the door to by-passing that outcome, assuming it works.
So I will (politely) return your retort: please stop perpetuating misinformation and the defensive attitudes when it comes to SYG in Florida. The law is what it is – good, bad or indifferent. But to claim the statute has no effect is ridiculous.
I support the FL SYG law, but last year described the SYG hearing to a pro-gun attorney in Maryland who recently worked as a prosecutor. He was shocked and said in prescient tones, that “someday that thing is going to come back and bite the community in the ass. All it’ll take is one knucklehead to give us all a big headache.”
I also described the law to my wife as the, “Don’t Even Think About Getting Into A Fight In Florida” Law. Which is good advice, for all.
Pro-gun people. . .which likely mean it’s not meant to come to a predetermined conclusion in favor of gun control. . .”
The “Senate Subcommittee to Study the Use of Automatic and Semiautomatic Firearms” in Pennsylvania back in 1994 had a good representation of pro-gun people (including an NRA director) on it, and they mainly were there for window-dressing to provide credibility to the anti-gun proposals that would come out of it. Their jaws were left hanging when they first heard what “their” committee’s proposals were. Then, at that, some of them were bribed via their egos to support the subsequent legislative package(s) by placing meaningless pieces of their own language in the bills; like the guy who told me his preamble consisting of paens to the beauty of the state constitution “made the constitution more powerful.” If they could bottle ego like that, maybe I’d buy some.
To generalize, ten cents and “pro-gun” people on a government “committee” will get you a comprehensive package of anti-gun legislation. Better to stay home and attack it from the get-go.
Either that, or make sure the people on the committee had a spine; part of that spine is us, saying, “We’ve got your back!”
“make sure the people on the committee [have] a spine; part of that spine is us, saying, “We’ve got your back!â€
But you need to understand that the people who are chosen for such positions see themselves as “leaders” and “history-makers.” They don’t see themselves as needing the support of mere mortals like us. That’s why the pols choose them for these committees. Usually when you hear what they thought they were going to accomplish, their naive’te is just incredible. But that’s another old, long story to be left for another time.