Ok, so here we go.
I’m not a very political person. Don’t judge me but I don’t even vote. I know. I’ve heard it all. It’s my civic duty. One vote is better than no vote. What are you an extremist? Hippie?
No, not any of that. I live in a wonderful country and very blessed to have been born and raised here. I could have easily been born in a “third world” country. Living off of nothing or making a dollar a week.
I don’t vote for many of my own personal reasons. I have to live with whoever gets voted into office anyways. And no matter whom it is - I still have to pay taxes, pay the extreme gas prices, take my kids to school, go to work, etc. My life won’t change no matter who sits there. Republican or Democrat. I don’t even label myself as one of them. Does that make me ignorant? If you think it does – and you have your right to your own opinion – then so be it.
I believe in RIGHT and WRONG.
This brings me to my actual post… Trayvon Martin vs. Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground law. I have attached an excerpt I borrowed from Wikipedia [below]
As of 28 May 201031 States had some form of Castle Doctrine or Stand Your Ground law. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,[8] West Virginia and Wyoming have adopted Castle Doctrine statutes, and other states (Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Washington) are currently considering "Stand Your Ground" laws of their own.
Some of the states that have passed or are considering "stand your ground" laws already implement "stand your ground" principles in their case law. Indiana and Georgia, among other states, already had "stand your ground" case law and passed "stand your ground" statutes due to possible concerns of the case law being replaced by "duty to retreat" in later court rulings. Other states, including Washington, have "stand your ground" in their case law but have not adopted statutes; West Virginia had a long tradition of "stand your ground" in its case law before codifying it as a statute in 2008. These states did not have civil immunity for self-defense in their previous self-defense statutes.
My list of questions to you…
- Do you live in one of these states?
- What would have to happen to you for you shoot first and ask questions later?
- Do you think Zimmerman (the shooter) should be arrested?
- Would you walk in the Million Man Hoodie March?
My A's (because it's only fair)...
- Yes I do
- Well first I wouldn't walk up to them and start shiz in the first place. Someone would have to physically assault me or bust into my house before I could attempt to take someones life.
- Yes he should be arrested.
- Yes I would. Everyone deserves to have their rights protected and STAND OUR GROUND!
I live in Florida, which is even more generous with the interpretation of the law. I feel very safe despite this, but do make it a point not to have road rage since the law does apply to spaces like--in your car.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the physical assault or in my house thing. However, my husband is ex-military and he's much more comfortable with guns and the occurrences when he'd use one. I feel safer when I'm with him than by myself since I know he wouldn't let anything happen to me.
Not familiar with the court case or the purpose of the march, so I can't say whether or not I think the shooter should be arrested.
I do know that I dislike California's laws. If someone breaks into your home, and you want to defend yourself (say with a gun) you can't shoot them *even if they're being violent* unless they have a gun as well. (Equal force law or something. If they have a knife then you can only use a knife or lesser equivalent.)
In your yard I can understand some restraint, but in the walls of my house?
Okay, went and looked up the case. The guy got out of his car to go confront Trayvon, so yes, I do think he should be arrested. He was looking for trouble, which the law should not protect.
DeleteOooo, someone has done their homework and I love it!
DeleteSo - no honking for you!
My husband and I both have our gun of choice and comfort, though, I'm still not sure about carrying it around and pulling it on someone. In my lifetime I've only killed rabbits, squirrels, & deer with a 22 rifle. A handgun feels different.
Ex-military would make anyone feel more comforable.
California law is strange. So when someone breaks into my home do I have to ask them "Wait! What weapon did you bring? I need to make sure I have one of those." I agree with you. DUMB!
I live in Washington, so we are considering these laws. But my husband always tells me, if you shoot an intruder, make sure it's fatal. You don't want him alive to sue you. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't have much of an opinion otherwise. I think it's a case by case situation, but I am glad my state is working on some sort of law.
My dad says the same thing about shooting to kill.
DeleteThought provoking post, Danielle. I live in Canada where the gun laws are different from province to province. I'm not even sure how it works in our province. Something for me to look at!
ReplyDeleteI've tagged you in a post today on my blog :)
Thanks for the tag. Sorry it took my a while to get to this comment. I've been on vacation and got back yesterday so now I'm back to my blogosphere.
DeleteI live in in Indiana so we have this law exists where I live. Indiana's law says to use reasonable force including deadly force if it is justified. This is included in protecting yourself and protecting a third party. I would have to feel like I or someone else was in danger to do something, and even then I don't know if I could kill someone.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! I don't think I could be in the military.
DeleteI live in Texas. We definitely have strong laws about being able to protect ourselves. I want to say that from all I know about this case, the shooter went out of his way to chase the victim before shooting him. How he can think his life was in danger and why law enforcement believes this, I don't know. But I know from experience that many times all the information doesn't come to light right away, and that may be the case here. I would hope that a thorough investigation is now underway.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should be handling this case. You sound like a very honest and straight-shooting lady!
DeleteThis is an interesting post. I, too, am a very opinianated person with views about right and wrong. I really like your writing.
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Thanks! You're too sweet!
DeleteJust found you via A-Z and become a follower.
ReplyDeleteLiving in the UK, the gun culture of the USA is very alien to me. I live in a rural area, where guns are not particularly frowned upon, but these are farmers and gamerkeepers rather than folks on the street.
It's a fascinating insight into your country and the huge variation of law between states.
Where I live, George Zimmerman would certainly be arrested and I'd think that was absolutely right.
Amanda
http://dramadiceanddamsons.blogspot.co.uk/
Yay for A-Z! I love new followers and returned the follow. I've never been to the UK but would love to some day.
DeleteInnocent until proven guilty just doesn't seem right in some cases.
Hi Danielle. I'm just stopping in as your A to Z co-host, and wanted to make sure I'm following. I am, so that's great. Glad to have you in my group!
ReplyDeleteNow, I don't ever get into politics on the internet, because it's just asking for trouble, but I will say this: I don't believe in violence. I'm not saying I don't think people should have the right to defend themselves or own guns, but I just think it's so sad that a boy had to die over this.
Nice! I'm honored to be in your group!
DeleteIt's sad when an innocent dies over someones stupidity.
Thanks for stopping by.
As I am from Germany, I think I might have a different perspective. Do I understand it right, that this "Stand your ground" law is something like the right to protect your property on your own if someone like tries to steal something or just gets on your ground without permission? I'm just asking because I'm not sure if I understood that correctly.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, in my opinion, that's not right. The most important thing for me about this is, that I think no person should be allowed to own a gun if not really necessary. I know that there are other ways to kill a person, but in my opinion I think guns make it a lot easier for people to kill and no one should have the right to kill another person - no matter what this person might have done. And yes, I even think a person that is a murderer shouldn't be killed. Human beings just shouldn't have the right to do so. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
So as you can see, I'm totally the less guns, less killing-person. Of course that means you may not be able to protect yourself or your family as effective. But maybe it also means that you don't need to protect yourself as much. I am living in Germany. Weapons here are only allowed locked away and if you are doing this for sports. You also need a special certificate. Of course there are also bad things happening here. We had things like school shootings. But if you look at the numbers, even if you compare them to how many people live here and in the States, we have still less problems with that. And I think that's enough reason.
And I'd also like to add that I'm not sure about different political parties in the States - of course it's always about Democrats or Republicans. But in different countries, like over here, we have lots and lots of different parties. And if you don't vote over here, it just means that parties who are more radical and have a more special opinion do get more votes by percentage. So to avoid that, I do vote, even though I sometimes feel like I'm not really changing anything. But I think that's really different in the States ;)
I love this line you put... "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." So true, so very very true. Very wise words Miri!
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