Don’t like him? Just shoot the SOB!
Let me see if I understand this. Here in Florida (and apparently a bunch of other states) there is a law referred to as Stand Your Ground. These laws are “outrageously dangerous laws” (that’s how The New York Times described them) “making it easy for shooters who kill to claim self-defense.”
The New York Times editorial I refer to, published in Progreso Weekly, is the result of the recent shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old student in Sanford, Florida. All indication point to a vigilante-style shooting from a gung-ho individual, George Zimmerman, who stepped out of his automobile, chased Martin (who happened to have been black) and “wasted” him – if I may be allowed to use such language.
The killing of innocent 17-year-olds, anywhere, is truly a waste, and a sad statement of what we’ve become.
Here’s the rub. Zimmerman claims that he “reasonably believed” that Martin would harm him. And it’s why he shot him. OK… But what I don’t understand is why Zimmerman (a white man, by the way) should consider himself in harm’s way when he was the one who stepped out of a car and chased a 17-year-old kid who was simply eating a snack as he leisurely walked home?
I’ve worked in Sanford, Florida. It’s a little town about a half-hour drive just north of Orlando. My time there was with Latino groups trying to organize themselves politically. You need cojones to be Latino or Black in areas like that in Florida. And it’s why it doesn’t surprise me to see the Sanford police declare the shooting justifiable.
But the problem here goes much deeper. Are we ready to create a Wild West mentality in Florida and so many other states? Where we shoot first and ask questions later… Is that what we want for our kids? For our future?
The gun lobby, as most know, doles out millions to politicians around the country. It’s powerful. And it’s why we have such laws as this thing called Stand Your Ground. The money passed out guarantees that we won’t get much relief from politicians – there are too few with the balls to challenge the NRA and to question the Second Amendment. In my opinion the 2nd Amendment needs amending to fit the 21st century…
But if gun violence is to be addressed in this country, it’s us, the people, the voters, who must show outrage and demand answers from our wimpy, paid-off politicians.
Alvaro F. Fernandez
