The Florida gun law is so lax that prosecutors have to show Zimmermann didn’t think his life was in danger to get a conviction. This is virtually impossible to do because they have to prove a negative.
Thousands of parents are no doubt cancelling their trips this summer to Disney World in Florida. Little Billy bumps into a stranger. The stranger shoots him then says I thought my life was in danger. Under Florida law, the cops can’t question him further. This is beyond insane. If you shoot and kill someone, you need to prove self-defense.
A Los Angeles criminal prosecutor and martial arts expert once told me you are allowed to use one level of violence above what you are attacked with. You can leave the attacker on the ground so he won’t get up for a while then run away and call the cops. But you can not stomp on his ribs or shoot him if he’s lying on the ground stunned.
I sneeze loudly and am certainly not going to Florida. Someone might get startled by my sneeze, think I’m attacking, then shoot me.
Also, if Trayvon Martin and George Zimmermann were the same race or if Martin hadn’t been black, this shooting, tragic as it is, probably wouldn’t be national headlines. In my opinion, this country has yet to recover from the Civil War. The wounds, divisions, and animosities are still there and need to be healed.
Actually this is not at all the case. The lawmakers involved in crafting this bill have been speaking out about how it’s being implemented. Nowhere in the law does it say police can’t question people, or can’t charge people if they say they acted in self-defense. The law simply states that you don’t have to attempt to flee from an attacker, and may use deadly force is you feel your life is in danger.  Nowhere does it say the police should be making this call. This should be handled by the DA and a grand jury. Police aren’t judges. The minute they start to become them, we have a problem, ala Judge Dredd.