National View: ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws must be stricken

Mr. P is going to have a difficult time choosing the winners in the First Ever Talent Show.

The entrants demonstrate an abundance of creativity and talent.

Judge for yourself.

I'm guessing that it will be a cold, cold, cold, cold day in July before the Stand Your Ground laws are stricken from the books.

They might be tweaked here and there.

But they will not go away.

As a woman who lives alone with a firearm, I most certainly DO NOT agree with this column.

Maybe it's becuase the Apt above me was robbed at gunpoint a few years back, or maybe it's because I believe in the 2nd amendment.

Make no mistake about it, if someone tries to breakdown my door, window or attack me in the parking lot, I will have zero problem invoking WI's Castle Law (basically the smae idea protect yourself at all costs) It's survival of the fittest and I plan to survive with Ammo & a knife.

Zimmerman is an idiot, but he acted on his own accord. The NRA does not promote being drunk with power or shooting people because you are on the Neighborhood watch team. This law also does not promote that fact.

With everything there are 2 sides to every story. This particular 1 has a terribly tragic outcome to it, but than again no one will ever really know what that young kid did or said to escalate the issues also.

I am sick of everything being an evil plot by the NRA & GOP to undermine America along with it all being Racial. Huuman nature has no color. Honestly I am sick of the Hoodie Marches the Whites vs African Americans that I am beginning to tune it all out. I now pray for someone to drop a Nuke on all the News Stations.

With Ya , Riings~ 9-11 , and for those needing an update-there is no 11 on your phone, you must press the 1 again and again...kidding aside, the 911 is to pick up the 'perp' you've disabled..but the sadder part is the unsuspecting victim of some one drunk with power..   I will,possibly, never know what happened there in Florida, but I sure know what goes on around me,here, in the Chicago area...and know that violence happens in seconds, never to be forgotten(no matter how fine the therapy,or wine)and Police responce happens in minutes...so, well, in a violent society,you must prepare for where ever you live..i.e. a peaceful place, maybe guns aren't necessary.  But learning how NOT to shoot innocent children sitting on  their own porch steps while missing the attempted rapist...well, that would be good.  NO, that SHOULD be mandatory to gun ownership...starting around 10th grade, and getting more proficient as you become more aware of the responsibilities of your actions. And you get your license and voting card the same day.

Different package of laws over here. Not much gun crime, but plenty of violent crime. Oddly, the law seems to be skewed in favour of the criminal, so if you harm the little b******s who are burgling your house, you could end up in prison, while they get away with a warning - and return to your house to steal whatever, as they know you won't be home. Crazy.
Elf&Safetea demanded that our local garden centre removed the razor wire from the top of a 6ft perimeter fence because 'somebody' might hurt themselves. The owner did take the matter to court and even our po-faced local magistrate cracked a smile. The razor wire remains.

RINGS.......................you are my Monday morning heroine! Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
A rainy Monday, the perfect sleep in day.............if only.................have a wonderful day all...................................

Its certainly a tough issue. Full disclosure: I've had a concealed permit and I carried a handgun. I was trained to use it properly (since I was seven) and was at the range every month.

First, let me say I am in favor of people protecting themselves, but I worry that upping the ante is not the way to go. I've lived in Germany, where handguns are rare. I never was worried about gun violence while I lived there, because I knew the worst that could come at me was a knife or bat (and I teach Aikido, so I feel comfortable with that). I lived in New Orleans when it was the most dangerous city in America and carried a handgun.  The real issue is what happens after the fact in a stand your ground situation: no matter what the person should be brough to the police station and asked to give a statement.  The police in the field should not have to make the determination if the force was justified.  "Stand your ground against a threat"is a fine idea, but there must be strong accountability after the fact.

From what I understand, with stand your ground, you do not have to retreat in the face of lethal force. Zimmerman provoked Martin. Martin was clearly not out for a fight, he was out for a snack. What was the imminent threat? How would you react if some guy started following you around in a vehicle as you were walking home from the store? I know I would be extremely wary and on my guard! What then if that guy got out of his vehicle and chased you? How would you respond? If Martin had had a gun, would he have been justified for protecting himself?

This law is to protect yourself from lethal harm, right? I don't think a fist-fight is a lethal issue in most cases. If Martin had had a gun, this would be another issue. He didn't. Zimmerman used a gun in a fist fight (and even the amount of physical interaction is unknown at this point). With this law, the person standing their ground must make the decision if they are in imminent danger. I don't know that everybody who carries a gun can make that decision: police officers and soldiers with professional training sometimes have trouble with this. The law, in a perfect world, is fine. If we lived in a perfect world, we wouldn't need the law. The castle law is something completely different: somebody has come onto your property uninvited. All you have to do for stand your ground is look threatening enough for somebody to perceive a threat to him- or herself? What kind of threshold is that?

I heard a study that says if you carry a gun, you are more likely to imagine you see a gun being pulled in a tense situation. I think the stand your ground law lowers the bar of personal responsibility. You know what? If I am out and armed, and I shoot somebody in self-defense, I expect to be taken to the police station and questioned no matter what. In fact, in handgun training, I was told to expect to be brought in if my weapon was ever discharged outside of a practice situation. Its part of the deal.

I am more worried about people who don't train religiously and carry a handgun anyway.  Just my two cents.  Its not personal against anyone here or anywhere.  I live in a so-so neighborhood and sleep with a gun right under my bed (I have no children to worry about getting into it) and my wife and I have drilled what to do in a break in.  I am in favor of defending yourself.  In the Zimmerman/Martin case, the force was so disproportionate that I personally don't believe it was justified.  Should that get rid of Stand Your Ground?  I think the process should be more rigorous: more training before the fact and a full inquiry after the fact.

Rings - ditto bebe!!
The "Stand Your Ground" Law is becoming a license to shoot and we will never know what really happened here - it is he said and he didn't say because he is too dead to tell his part in this.

First, let us put paid to the notion that the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman tragedy has anything to do with Stand Your Ground laws.
Apart from hyperbolic, rhetorical media flourishes (see cited article) and opportunistic race baiting by fading and irrelevant activists, it has not.
Many laws  have come into being as a reaction or, in some cases, an over-reaction to intolerable circumstances pretty well laid out by Hazel Leese: an assumption that unless your life as a property owner or at large citizen were clearly at risk, that aggressive defense i.e. shooting the guy(s) would be looked at as excessive and subject to legal ramifications.
That never made sense in the first place.
If you happen to find your uninvited self inside our house, the sod will have settled over your grave by the time the details are hashed out.
The pendulum swings: for decades the rights of the bad guys were given too much deference and now, the only Stand Your Ground issues we are likely to hear about are those in which it has been improperly invoked.
Sending a couple of robber/rapist/potential murdering thugs packing lacks the sensationalism required to be considered newsworthy.

rings90 ~
You go, baby!

I don't own a gun, and hope I never need one. There is so much hype around the Zimmerman case. My question to the Eyesters is, do you think Mr. Zimmerman should have been arrested?

I m ~
A confrontation initiated by you, in which the other party winds up dead, indicates: yes.

Send lawyers, guns and money the shit has hit the fan. We all take a little risk.

One of the things I enjoy about Mr.P's Clubhouse is learning different regional points of view on many topics from mostly like-minded people. Many things which seem "normal" turn out to be strictly regional and it is fascinating.

Coming from the N.E. conventional wisdom is pretty much No Guns, ever, except for people in hinterlands who hunt to eat. We are not trained in any way to handle such weaponry and when I recently tried to find a place to learn to handle a gun there was not one available to me. And certainly definitely, no hand guns, partially because of the threat of having it used against oneself.

Unfortunately in the past few months I have come to reconsider due to a volatile situation with an out of control person who has access to my cottage. Yes, I can lock my doors but this is a person who is not onlly 6'10" but when provoked could not be held back by a mere locked door.

So I considered getting a gun for protection, but the thing is, if I am not trained to competently handle the weapon I see only Big Trouble and ultimately I would not like it to ever go that far. I learned as a child how to handle myself on city streets to act defensively, at home in the country is something else. So I am currently armed with a restraining order, pepper spray and speeddial for 911.
This is all about a good person who CANNOT drink alchohol.

Anyway, sorry to drone on but this topic is extremely electric for me. Yes, of course I agree with Stoney's 11:15, in fact I agree with you all. As a good friend of mine says constantly "I don't know, I don't know."

CHEFDEB:
I know. Get a gun and go to a training class. Then to the range often to practice.

and then learn to kill. I don't say that lightly; I have been in a blind,and a deer stand,with youngsters that could not pull (squeeze)the trigger.Yes, proficiency is one thing on a range, but it does not always give way to deadly force required to save your own life. Training by law enforcement personell is essential in that respect;by nature we do not kill,even to eat,so we must learn to overcome that reaction of "Oh No, Bambi..", imagine what we have to do in face to face mortal contact.  It ain't PacMan

Chefdeb- come & see me in WI . I have friend who would be happy to teach you.

I used to be anti-guns, no way never.  I grew up with an NRA membership framed and hanging in the foyer of our house.  I hated the NRA. .......................But something happened along the way to the age I am, and I don't quite know what it was, just a lot of personal impressions, but now I am not opposed to the Castle Law that rings described so well (well done, rings!) - or the law in Florida.  The bad guys, they're everywhere and they're armed, and reason and logic and kindness mean nothing to them and their guns.  Come into my "castle" uninvited and I absolutely do have the right to defend it and myself and I will do so.  To not defend myself and my home and family and so forth seems simply stupid.  Okay Bad Guy, shoot me?  I don't think so.

SAJJohnson's statement that Zimmerman used a gun at what should have been no more than a fist fight--and from the looks of Zimmerman in comparison to Martin he would probably have won--rang a bell for me.  It seems some people don't realize that the minute the gun is aimed someone will probably die.  The fist fight would cause injury but not death in most cases. 
 To me it may not have been racial, but it was certainly a power play on Zimmerman's part.  He is now arrested, and I sincerely hope the prosicuter prevails in some way for the greater problem is others may try the same thing for different reasons--Stand Your Ground or not. 

STONEY expressed my thoughts, if unwittingly...if I can finsh duties and drop in again I'll add....

I have my guns.......I like to shoot....I need to get better..........

I'd make one tiny revision to Mr. P's headline above by inserting the word NOT between "must" and "be." I agree with Rings90 and she said it so well! It appears that we all have reached the age of wisdom and self-preservation that dictates we be prepared like the Boy Scouts in the face of our ever-increasingly violent society.

We have 3 indoor firing ranges, 8 gun shops, and 2 outdoor practice ranges within a half hour of Moose Loop. One store, The Bargain Barn on GA515 has acres of weapons covering a large warehouse of everything from compound bows and arrows to rifles, shotguns, ammo, knives, throwing stars,and every kind of weapon or protection equipment you could look for. Around Atlanta there is a gun and knife show at one of the venues nearly every weekend. One jurisdiction, Kennesaw, passed a local ordinance requiring every homeowner to own a gun, and the crime rate in that neighborhood ..... dropped....significantly. Word to the wise.

I own a small ladies .38 S&W, but admit that I am not as proficient with it as I'd like to be, and have every good intention of paying for classes at one of the Holly Springs indoor gun ranges soon. Although when I did some outdoor firing at a friend's farm, I did put every shot in the target. I am thinking in case of home invasion, a shotgun is the best insurance to protect home and family. We are in a gated community an hour north of Atlanta, but in the city, I'd sure have a weapon handy. The news is replete with breakins, carjackings, muggings, driveby shootings, and senseless gun violence...as is most any large city in America.

I do not believe that banning guns is the answer, but rather education and respect. If you ban guns, only outlaws will have them, and we know that is true. No thug is going to voluntarily turn over his weapons. I believe Australia has tried this tack.

Stand Your Ground laws seem to make sense in discouraging youthful offenders from that spur-of-the-moment mugging, but the person standing has to have good common sense about what looks like a threat. It is impossible at night, looking at a suspicious person in dark clothing, to tell if that person is armed or not. One must make a decision based on the person's demeanor and body language.

The news media have failed to show what the dead boy looked like at his age when the confrontation happened....They have only shown his younger boyish pictures, but the other side of that was the report that the boy was about 6 feet tall, taller than Zimmerman. If he acted like he was peeking into cars, acting strangely, then perhaps he was doing that just to taunt the neighborhood watch captain once he realized Z was following him....teens have been known to cut up like that. We will have to wait for the whole story, but...yes, shooting him seems excessive. Maybe, keep calling the 911 and ask for police to come check him out..There may be more to the story than we have been told. Major news is known to slant events.....Just saying....

IMajorie - Probably, yes....arrested to keep him in protective custody and prevent the large outcry that Jesse and others raised! If arrested right away, that still sends the message that a death is being looked into. Even policepersons are immediately put on desk duty after a shooting while the events are examined.

Bill Cosby has said that this is NOT a race issue, I agree with Bill Cosby. He has said that this is a gun issue. I so resent the media giving voice to a Sharpton....who, himself should be arrested for inciting riots....a Jesse and their ilk for turning this into a race issue.

As has been said, it's difficult to know just what happened. As Mooseloop mentioned, all the pictures shown are those portraying an innocent looking, clean cut young man Perhaps it is so but the media, as usual, is reporting a one sided, slanted view.

Zimmerman, it is reported, was told to wait in his car until help arrived. The last time my husband's office was broken into and we were told, after 3 calls and an hour and a half, to wait in the car ( thereby allowing the person( s) to get away, we finally rode around and found police and requested that they come.

PS. Admittedly, my first thought was what is a neighborhood watch guy doing patrolling with a gun? Was he trained with firearms? Was he trained to try to stop a potential threat in any other way? And why oh why did the president weigh in with anything other than "how sad"?

O, my lovelies - reading some of your posts reminds me how blessed I am to live in a Hobbit Hole, I never lock my doors, I leave the car keys in the ignition. If friends turn up and I'm not home, of course they can make coffee/tea and raid the cookie tin. The only gun I have ever owned is a little 4.10 shotgun for shooting rabbits.

LADIES & GENTLEMEN ... and Good Evening To You .......
 
The Passover this year was arduous, because all six of my Assistants were gone out of town for the celebration, to be with Family ...  I am back in the saddle again, playin' Meskin Catch-up with the Mail and tryin' to get the Shops going again ....... I have missed you all, but y'all have remained in my thoughts and prayers, as ever you shall .......
 
 
There are ...  some ... Absolutes in this Universe, that can be debated, contested, denied, disavowed from now till Doomday ... but nothing will ever change the fact that they are absolutely true;   A Gentleman should always carry with him, two Handkerchiefs ....... Whatever can go wrong, will ....... and there is absolutely NO Legal, Spiritual, Moral or other duty for one to Retreat if he is genuinely in defense of himself or another person ... Self Defense is a God-given Right, Defense of another is a Duty and Responsibility incumbent upon us all, and I realize that I have opened the door for Liberals and other Do-Gooders by using the word, Genuinely ... but that is just the way it is, and just the way it must be, in all Fairness .......
 
Self Defense or Defense of Another is clearly implicit in the Second Amendment, which bespeaks our Civil and Human Rights Guaranteed in The Constitution ... Please Note;  That there are NO  EXCEPTIONS listed anywhere, in The Constitution ... Further, the Constitution clearly states that, "No State, Province, Municipality or Agency may Make or Enforce any Law, Statute, Ordinance, or Rule, that supercedes the Supreme Law of The Land ..."  And ... there are NO  EXCEPTIONS listed in that Legislation either ...

IVAN~ Welcome home. We missed you.

I have friend who maintains that "Gun Control" is a steady hand.

Good to see you back, Ivan.  I was going to contact you if I hadn't seen your bold comment.  BUT I ask, "was it self defence?"  Could the gun have been advoided by a strong uppercut to the jaw if Zimmerman was really threatened by a young boy?  MMMMMM!

I have not seen the tale of the tape on Trayvon V. George.  We are all free and, in this case, invited to speculate, but in the end, our justice system will have the final word here and true justice will have the final word once both hearts are read by their Maker. There are those who would and are pulling the trigger on George in the same way that they believe George to have pulled the trigger on Trayvon. Funny how that works. If George had been patrolling with a baseball bat, chances are good, the result would have been the same, albeit with a little more effort on his part.  Then again he may have stopped short of a true skull bashing.  One can only speculate.  Ivan is correct, it is our duty to protect the weak and our duty to allow the weak the ability to protect themselves.  

It's turned midnight here. Duvet time. Nos da, dear people. x

Rusty:  No one will ever know if it was self defense or not.  I'd like to make one point though, something that bothers me a lot, because I've heard it a lot:  the description of the deceased as a "young boy" , the implication being that he was a child in number of years and in body.  A 17 year old is not an old man, but he is more a young man, and at age 17 he is nearing the top of his strength, agility, and physical prowess - a 17 year old "boy" has more muscle mass and more natural testosterone coursing through his body than he ever will again.  I think it wouldn't be unfair to say that in a fist fight, the short, stocky, soft, and older man could be taken out quite easily by a 17 year old younger man.   I've heard him described as a baby, a child, a boy - and that's just not right.  Zimmerman would be no match for Martin in a fight...which is one reason why he could very well have seen the 17 year old as a physical threat....most people would.    But what happened between them?  I don't know, no one does.  I honestly don't see how we ever will...

I know this might be off topic, however there are so many of
my favorite people (teachers) in the village, I know that someone will get a
kick out of this...Miss Bebe, Miss Moose????  It almost reminds me of Arlo's Alice's Restaurant rant (I'm sittin' here on the group W bench...).

After being
interviewed by the school

administration, the
prospective teacher said:

“Let me see if I've
got this right.   You want me to go into
that room with

all those kids,
correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of

abuse, monitor their
dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages and

instill in them a love
for learning.  You want me to check their
backpacks

for weapons, wage war
on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise

their sense of self-esteem
and personal pride.  You want me to teach
them patriotism,

good citizenship,
sportsmanship and fair play;  how to
register to vote,

balance a checkbook
and apply for a job.  You want me to
check their heads for lice,

recognize signs of
antisocial behavior and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

You also want me to
provide them with an equal education regardless of their

handicaps and
communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or

any other language, by
letter, telephone, newsletter and report card.

You want me to do all
this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few

books, a big smile and
a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

You want me to do all
this and then you tell me… I can’t pray?”

I have heard the sound of shots fired as we drove away from an irate dad who didn't want my friend dating his daughter & a truck driver who didn't like streakers hitchhiking in the buff and then there's the watermelon episode and the bootlegger who didn't appreciate a 2 am awakening. I never looked back once I saw iron and lived the refrain from "gimme three steps mister". If someone brings fists to a gunfight I suggest running like hell. The wrong place wrong time thingy often applies and emotion takes away our animal cunning sometimes and to survive is the first order of business. I said wait a minute Chester I'm a peaceful man. Easy to try to legislate us but when things become fever pitched....

I've have to say Park, your last comment does put a different slant on the story.

PAOLOS' 6:56 words remind me to remind all of you to see "A Few Good Men," Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and JACK NICHOLSON, in a role only he could play. The final scene underscores precisely what PAOLOS posits, though, like one of the accused men, I had to see it three times to apprehend why they were guilty.
 
STONEY also spoke for me.  Never having heard of the law, I asked questions and was stunned to learn my state is one of the 21 or so that have such a law.  I've never heard it ised, even referred to. (Yes, I've been on jury duty.)
 
RINGS, I'm with STONEY on this: Please keep your weapon; you are responsible. What's scary is people who carry a weapon who are irresponsible, lack respect for life, or -- scariest yet -- "in middle-management" positions that allow them weapons when they may not be psychologically or emotionally fit for the job, for any number of reasons. To wit, "neighborhood watch captains."  Admirable volunteer task, but is he suited for the role, which carries considerable responsibility.  We'll likely never know. 
 
The media have hyped it 'til I don't want to read the paper or turn on tv, and that is unfortunate. Without a change of venue -- perhaps WITH one -- how can one find justice in this situation; for that matter, what IS justice in this situation?  Too much is wrong: Lollygagging police work, or so it appeared; suspect incommunicado for weeks.... If a neighborhood watch captain takes the job seriously, wouldn't you think he'd be trained to handle his task withOUT a weapon?  He is not military; it seems the same as giving ME a weapon and saying, "Now go out and keep us safe."  (Yes, we have neighborhood watch, but no weapons, no ranks; if something's amiss we call 911 -- and if told "Don't follow him," we don't.))
 
TOMMYTYPICAL< that peaceful man, puts it well: "...when things become fever-pitched...."

WWJD?

Even if Mr. Zimmerman had been acting under 'color of authority' as a trained and sworn in peace officer at any level, there would be questions to be answered.
He wasn't. I think Neighborhood Watch can be taken literally. Watch the neighborhood… watch and report which it seems he had done on some forty-eight different occasions.
I can't get over the notion that somebody died who didn't need to and paolos is right: arrayed against Zimmerman is not a bandwagon, it's the centennial version of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus Parade of pent up, ginned up racial tensions not all of which are without foundation.
"Are you following him, sir?"
Z, "Yes."
"We don't need you to do that."
We are left to wonder if it would have made a difference if the 911 officer had said: "Stand down, sir. Return to your car and wait for the patrol officers."
I wish to God that he had.

Georgia ~
Great to hear from you pal.

 

In terms of making that instantaneous decision in a situation in which you feel someone is threatening your life, my dear roommate has this homily:
 
"I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6."
 
A sobering thought.....and good night all! I am off to the pillows....sweet dreams all!
 
And thank you Paolos for the tribute to the difficult /nay, nearly impossible job of teaching!

Consider how difficult it would have been with me in your class. 

I think the Stand Your Ground laws should be stricken. Why? Because I don't believe one individual should have the power of three: Judge, Jury, and Executioner.

Lost in this discussion is the fact that Stand Your Ground, if I understand anything, is a last ditch defense of your life, safety and home. Maybe your vehicle if you are in it.
Not your dignity, not that Grumman canoe that hung from the side of your garage and is now bobbing down the street on the shoulders of two teenagers of unequal height.
It does not entail pursuit, attempted apprehension or anything else better left to law enforcement.
You get pulled into the bushes and pinned, that's enough. Give him one in the ear and I know someone who did… and walked.
Judges, juries and executioners are of little use to you from the other side of the sod.

I meant to say thanks to Luddite and Park 4 for nice words…
Thank you both.

Some of the best all around posts in a long time.....................STONEY......................your 12:20.............very shivery..............................
 
SAJJOHNSON...................I found your comments very fascinating because I have a vision of you from your comments and it was not of a gun ready, have a plan in case of a home invasion man. You hit the nail on the head, be trained & know how to use it. A friend who is a manager at the bank we do business w/ often carries a concealed weapon at work........she said that someone is always packing a gun in case of a robbery or hostage situation. When I bought my first gun two years ago she was so excited for me. But I remember something very sobering she said, if you have a gun you had better be prepared to use it because that one second delay will mean your death. I am frustrated because I signed up for a local law enforcement gun safety class for women recently & I am on a waitlist.
 
Anyway..................good post!
 
PAOLOS.....................so perfectly said, I plan to copy it for a few friends. Thank you muchly! I know that MOOSE & CAROL were smiling knowingly...................
 
The thing I noticed is how strongly the women feel about using a gun for safety in their home, it was almost universal for this site. I think that says a lot about the world we live in.

PARK....................your 7:45, wise words.........................not surprising...................
 
 
I know several people stated that criminals will always have guns, so you know what? We should also......................

I think the Stand Your Ground laws should not be stricken. Why? Because I don't believe a criminal should have the power of three: Judge, Jury, and Executioner.

I don't own a gun, and don't plan on getting one. I'm from the same background as Chef Deb--guns are not part of my culture. Since moving to the midwest, I now know many people who have lots of guns. My next door neighbor has dozens and I don't have issue with it (as long as they keep them locked away from their grandkids).  I will say that if I felt threatened like Chef Deb, I might go get myself a shotgun and learn how to use it.  To me, education is the issue.  I used to think it was the guns that were bad, take away the guns, and gun violence will go down.  But now I'm not so sure. One thing that made me think differently was traveling to Switzerland. The Swiss Army is their citizenry--every citizen in Switzerland is required to own a gun and be trained how to use it.  If they are invaded, they will take it to the streets. But you don't hear about gun voilence in Switzerland.  Another reason to questions was Michael Moore's movie, Bowling for Columbine. In it, he talks about all the guns in Canada.  Everyone in Canada owns a gun (well, maybe not everybody, but the majority of citizens are gun owners).  But gun violence is not an issue in Canada either.  Why?  Part of his explanation was fear.  There is so much fear-mongering from the media, the polititians, from each other, everywhere in the US. As a result, you have a person who is hyped up on fear, without proper gun training, carrying a firearm (Zimmerman).