Trayvon Martin Shooting Shows Perils of Lax U.S. Gun Laws

Ginger Snatch wrote:

<quoted text>What's the fastest thing in Sanford Florida?A negro running with a bag of skittles!!!!!!!!!!

You should toss out more of your funny remarks; that's all they're good for.

A Citizen Soldier wrote:

<quoted text>Pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

It sure is,if you are going to run that fast,steal more than a bag of skittles.

Provocateur wrote:

<quoted text>
You should toss out more of your funny remarks; that's all they're good for.

Don't be too upset,you'll think of something appropriate sometime soon.Hooray for Zimmerman,aparently Peurto Ricans are just as afraid of the negros as white people.Thats why they smell so bad,so blind people can hate them too.

By Tina Susman
March 21, 2012, 6:55 p.m.
Reporting from Sanford, Fla.—
In a tense meeting Wednesday that highlighted growing tensions over the shooting deat
h of an unarmed black teenager, local officials in Sanford, Fla., passed a vote of no confidence in the police chief as protests spread north to New York City, where the slain youth’s parents joined a Manhattan march demanding the killer’s arrest.
The no-confidence measure passed 3 to 2 after more than an hour of debate, and though it was not binding, the outcome and the public groans and applause that punctuated the debate underscored the anger pulsing through the Orlando suburb nearly a month after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s death on Feb. 26. Most of that anger is focused on the fact that the confessed shooter, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, who has been described as both Latino and white, has not been arrested.
The questions, he said, include whether police were too quick to accept Zimmerman’s claim that he fired in self-defense, despite the fact that Martin was unarmed and that witnesses described hearing someone wailing for help before a gunshot rang out.
A lawyer representing Martin's family, Benjamin Crump, has said that the teenager was on a cellphone with his girlfriend and expressed concern that he was being followed by a strange man in the seconds before he was shot. And two women who live near the shooting scene have said that Martin was lying face-down, with Zimmerman looming over him, after he was shot.
“If it was self-defense, why was he [Zimmerman] on Trayvon’s back?” one of the witnesses, Mary Cutcher, told CNN in an interview.
In Manhattan’s Union Square, hundreds of people marched in memory of the slain teenager in a so-called Million Hoodie March on Wednesday, including Martin’s parents. Martin was wearing a hooded sweatshirt when he was killed while walking back from a store where he had purchased some candy and a drink.
"We're not going to stop until we get justice," said the teenager's father, Tracy Martin, after thanking the crowd in New York, which chanted, "We want arrests," according to the Associated Press.
"My son did not deserve to die," the teen's mother, Sybrina Fulton, told the crowd, AP reported. "My heart is in pain, but to see the support of all of you really makes a difference."
More than a dozen people spoke at the Sanford meeting, the overwhelming majority of them black city residents complaining that the Police Department was quick to arrest blacks while letting whites accused of similar offenses go free. Several speakers described arbitrary arrests and harassment by police.
“I was born and raised in Sanford, and I’ve had this problem plenty of times,” said Robin Riggins, a black woman.
One resident, however, spoke in favor of Lee, arguing that the case should be allowed to “run its course.”
“There's two sides to every story,” said the resident, a white man who said he had lived in Sanford for decades.“We can’t rush to judgment and have Chief Lee be responsible for everything that occurs if we find out in an investigation he did his job.”
He noted that Lee had been on the job only 10 months.
The previous chief was forced out after an outcry over the beating of a black man in downtown Sanford by a white man who is a police officer’s son. The police did not arrest the man, even though the beating was captured on video.

Gun Nut wrote:

Yes, I assume that the Brady Bunch and Bloomturd Herd, with other nagging-nanny gun grabbers and blabbers, have shown up to play like bright enlightened grown ups who should be in charge of government large. Crime went down in Florida after CCW laws, with stand your ground provisions, were passed by the people; citizens legally armed to defend and protect themselves and loved ones from harm. One wannabe cop nut with a gun should not change this. Such and similar scenarios are taught and discussed in every CCW class with NRA instructors; emphasizing criminal and civil consquences of using a gun for self-defense and for fun.

You don't even live in FL. This isn't an isolated incident. It's a monthly event here.

A couple of weeks ago SYG was used in a road rage incident. One driver shot and killed the other and took off, a day or two later he came forward....no charges.

Unless you live here you don't see the events that occur all the time with some hothead shooting someone else and then using SYG as their reason.

This story only made the national news becuase the media played up the race issue.

Provocateur wrote:

By Tina Susman
March 21, 2012, 6:55 p.m.
Reporting from Sanford, Fla.—
In a tense meeting Wednesday that highlighted growing tensions over the shooting deat
h of an unarmed black teenager, local officials in Sanford, Fla., passed a vote of no confidence in the police chief as protests spread north to New York City, where the slain youth’s parents joined a Manhattan march demanding the killer’s arrest.
The no-confidence measure passed 3 to 2 after more than an hour of debate, and though it was not binding, the outcome and the public groans and applause that punctuated the debate underscored the anger pulsing through the Orlando suburb nearly a month after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s death on Feb. 26. Most of that anger is focused on the fact that the confessed shooter, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, who has been described as both Latino and white, has not been arrested.
The questions, he said, include whether police were too quick to accept Zimmerman’s claim that he fired in self-defense, despite the fact that Martin was unarmed and that witnesses described hearing someone wailing for help before a gunshot rang out.
A lawyer representing Martin's family, Benjamin Crump, has said that the teenager was on a cellphone with his girlfriend and expressed concern that he was being followed by a strange man in the seconds before he was shot. And two women who live near the shooting scene have said that Martin was lying face-down, with Zimmerman looming over him, after he was shot.
“If it was self-defense, why was he [Zimmerman] on Trayvon’s back?” one of the witnesses, Mary Cutcher, told CNN in an interview.
In Manhattan’s Union Square, hundreds of people marched in memory of the slain teenager in a so-called Million Hoodie March on Wednesday, including Martin’s parents. Martin was wearing a hooded sweatshirt when he was killed while walking back from a store where he had purchased some candy and a drink.
"We're not going to stop until we get justice," said the teenager's father, Tracy Martin, after thanking the crowd in New York, which chanted, "We want arrests," according to the Associated Press.
"My son did not deserve to die," the teen's mother, Sybrina Fulton, told the crowd, AP reported. "My heart is in pain, but to see the support of all of you really makes a difference."
More than a dozen people spoke at the Sanford meeting, the overwhelming majority of them black city residents complaining that the Police Department was quick to arrest blacks while letting whites accused of similar offenses go free. Several speakers described arbitrary arrests and harassment by police.
“I was born and raised in Sanford, and I’ve had this problem plenty of times,” said Robin Riggins, a black woman.
One resident, however, spoke in favor of Lee, arguing that the case should be allowed to “run its course.”
“There's two sides to every story,” said the resident, a white man who said he had lived in Sanford for decades.“We can’t rush to judgment and have Chief Lee be responsible for everything that occurs if we find out in an investigation he did his job.”
He noted that Lee had been on the job only 10 months.
The previous chief was forced out after an outcry over the beating of a black man in downtown Sanford by a white man who is a police officer’s son. The police did not arrest the man, even though the beating was captured on video.

Sad that whites will cave in to pressure from minorities.It's not necessary and should be discouraged.Blacks have a way of trying to make whites feel guilty about their position on the planet.I do not feel guilty one bit and could care less about so called political correctness.Trayvon threatened Mr.Zimmerman and paid the price for it.

Ginger Snatch wrote:

<quoted text>It sure is,if you are going to run that fast,steal more than a bag of skittles.

You have proof that he stole the skittles....right?

You can request that the Sanford, Florida Police arrest George Zimmerman
... for the shooting of Trayvon Martin by clicking on this link. http://www.sanfordfl.gov/action/actionrequest...

Bubba Bill wrote:

<quoted text>Don't be too upset,you'll think of something appropriate sometime soon.Hooray for Zimmerman,aparently Peurto Ricans are just as afraid of the negros as white people.Thats why they smell so bad,so blind people can hate them too.

Your ignorance becomes you.

Bubba Bill wrote:

<quoted text>Don't be too upset,you'll think of something appropriate sometime soon.Hooray for Zimmerman,aparently Peurto Ricans are just as afraid of the negros as white people.Thats why they smell so bad,so blind people can hate them too.

Yeah...."Hooray for Zimmerman", apparently he chased and murdered an innocent kid who's only crime was walking while black. You disgust me.

Bubba Bill wrote:

<quoted text>Sad that whites will cave in to pressure from minorities.It's not necessary and should be discouraged.Blacks have a way of trying to make whites feel guilty about their position on the planet.I do not feel guilty one bit and could care less about so called political correctness.Trayvon threatened Mr.Zimmerman and paid the price for it.

Would any of this have happened if Zimmerman had minded his own business? He saw no crime being committed. He had no authority to chase and confront Trayvon. Did Trayvon brandish his Skittles in a threatening manner? Was Zimmerman afraid of the rainbow colors?

A Citizen Soldier wrote:

<quoted text>Yeah...."Hooray for Zimmerman", apparently he chased and murdered an innocent kid who's only crime was walking while black. You disgust me.

I never thought I'd be saying this to you. Sad but very well stated.

Provocateur wrote:

<quoted text>
I never thought I'd be saying this to you. Sad but very well stated.

Each case is different. I call it like I see it....that's all.

Have you heard of this one?

This is racism at its finest. Edmonds, a well-known drug dealer and meth addict lies by claiming he was robbed, shoots two men in the back, and walks away free while Renato gets the blame. That is not playing the so-called race card; those are the facts! These three young gentlemen were educated African American men. They were NOT thugs, but because of racial stereotypes and ignorance, some people automatically assume that white Edmonds’ accusations are justified. How can the young men rob when they did not have any weapons? Why would they choose to pass San Francisco, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and other cities just to rob this sick man? The facts are that Renato was not identified in a line up, Renato did not kill anyone, and Renato did not rob Edmonds! If Edmonds was supposedly being attacked in his home, how did he have time enough to get a gun and run after the men to shoot them? Also, it is not defense if you are pursuing someone else! Additionally, why didn’t the Lake County police take the buckets of marijuana and scale that was found in Edmonds’ home? No medical license allows an individual to have five or more pounds of weed for medical treatment. Edmonds is GUILTY! Edmonds needs to be prosecuted for HIS ACTIONS OF MULTIPLE MURDERS!!! This is why this case needs to be further examined. Renato Hughes is innocent and it is sad that he has to endure false accusations for something he did not do! There is no card that is being played, just another example of how a white man is trying to get away with murder and not being held accountable for his actions!
The only gun found linked to the crime belongs to Edmonds -- a 9mm semiautomatic Browning without a serial number and is not registered.

Edmonds was never charged. Hughs is still in jail. Within a month or so Edmonds cut the throat of a white customer killing him. And again claimed self defense. After just a little social networking the sheriff and the DA were shown the door.

"Stand your ground laws" have nothing to do with gun laws and this shooting in and of itself has nothing to do with Florida's "stand your ground law".

A Citizen Soldier wrote:

<quoted text>Would any of this have happened if Zimmerman had minded his own business? He saw no crime being committed. He had no authority to chase and confront Trayvon. Did Trayvon brandish his Skittles in a threatening manner? Was Zimmerman afraid of the rainbow colors?

This shooting by Zimmerman has nothing to do with lax gun laws or the stand your ground law, this shooting was all zimmerman and he was bound and determine to shoot someone who was black.

no surprise wrote:

<quoted text>
You don't even live in FL. This isn't an isolated incident. It's a monthly event here.
A couple of weeks ago SYG was used in a road rage incident. One driver shot and killed the other and took off, a day or two later he came forward....no charges.
Unless you live here you don't see the events that occur all the time with some hothead shooting someone else and then using SYG as their reason.
This story only made the national news becuase the media played up the race issue.

I am in Naples Florida typing this post.

It is a quite morning in one of the safest places in the USA.

Carrying a gun around in public is very bad idea imo (unless you're a trained LEO).

A case in point is the fact that many "old west" towns had strict laws against carrying side arms and guns within the town/city limits.

This tragic case reminds me of the city of Phoenix (up until the mid or late 80's) when it was legal to carry a loaded side arm in public (w/no permit). This, unfortunately, resulted in numerous "parking space" murder/shootings when gun totting citizens decided that they had a right to shoot people over vehicle parking space disputes.

Telmark wrote:

Carrying a gun around in public is very bad idea imo (unless you're a trained LEO).
A case in point is the fact thabt many "old west" towns had strict laws against carrying side arms and guns within the town/city limits.
This tragic case reminds me of the city of Phoenix (up until the mid or late 80's) when it was legal to carry a loaded side arm in public (w/no permit). This, unfortunately, resulted in numerous "parking space" murder/shootings when gun totting citizens decided that they had a right to shoot people over vehicle parking space disputes.

You advocate the Kings law.

Personal liberty once lost is seldom found again.
History tells a story of people rejecting the Lings law in favor of personal liberty.

Was their blood spilled in vain?

Telmark wrote:

Carrying a gun around in public is very bad idea imo (unless you're a trained LEO).
A case in point is the fact that many "old west" towns had strict laws against carrying side arms and guns within the town/city limits.
This tragic case reminds me of the city of Phoenix (up until the mid or late 80's) when it was legal to carry a loaded side arm in public (w/no permit). This, unfortunately, resulted in numerous "parking space" murder/shootings when gun totting citizens decided that they had a right to shoot people over vehicle parking space disputes.

Your analogy is kin to saying that black guys armed with guns have a right to shoot convenience store clerks because the shooter thinks they have a right to the money in the store cash register. LOL.