If you live in Florida, ‘Stand Your Ground’ means that while carrying a loaded gun– you can stalk human beings as prey in your neighborhood. You can verbally and physically harass them. You can prevent them from the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness if you don’t like their face.
And, here’s the best part, lunatics, because when your human prey resists your twisted Gran Torino snuff fantasy to kill another human being, or “punks,” and attempts to fend off your delusional, creepo-advances, not until they begin adhering to the original Stand-Your-Ground law of kicking your ass in self-defense can you shoot them and claim “self-defense.”
I think they’ll even amend the law further, loosen it up a bit, seeing as how it’s working out pretty well, statistically-speaking, for people with a concealed handgun and a warped vigilante complex. The Tampa Bay Times reported:
• Those who invoke “stand your ground” to avoid prosecution have been extremely successful. Nearly 70 percent have gone free.
• Defendants claiming “stand your ground” are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a white.
If you’re the defense, just go with the Reefer-Madness excuse, or the same defense you give when you shoot a dog that gets too bite-y.
And, while you’re at it, gun nuts in Florida, why not institute the same rule for food that you drop on the ground for your pick-a-punk vigilante shooting? say, the “three-second rule.” Like, you shoot someone, anyone, and if you call out, “1-2-3 Stand-My-Ground-Not-It!” and then say, “no backsies!” you get to have your victim stuffed at a taxidermist of your choice, paid for by the taxpayers, of course.
I get the impression that in Florida, if George Zimmerman had stalked Trayvon Martin with a military grade flamethrower and set him on fire, at a minimum he’d probably be in prison right now for arson, or felony damage to a wealthy landholder’s private property.
Think Progress notes that Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara said soon after the verdict was handed down,
“things would have been different if George Zimmerman was black for this reason: He never would have been charged with a crime.”
For the ever-loving life of me I have no idea what this was supposed to mean other than defense-attorney-for-scum speak to say, “smells like someone died.”
George Zimmerman said to dispatchers who had told him to mind his own business, “Fucking punks. Those assholes, they always get away.”
Understatement of the year?