Old Man's view on Stand Your Ground [View all]
I told myself to stay away from commenting on the Zimmerman trial but I just got done reading the comments by people on MSN. Most people felt Mr. Zimmerman was a good person and only trying to do his civic duty to protect the community. I lived in Florida before the stand your ground law. The stand your ground law, in essence, says if you feel your life might be in danger you can use deadly force and you are not required to seek any avenue of escape. I imagine a lot of people will agree with this law. Here is my problem with armed people taking on the role of protecting the public at large as an extension of law enforcement. Maybe it starts with blacks, Hispanics, sex offenders and other people judged to be of less than good character. When you let people who feel righteous and empowered to arm themselves and dispense justice in the name of standing their ground the pool of people they will target will only grow. The use of deadly force, except in rare situations, should be in the hands of law enforcement and judgment should be administered by the courts.
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