17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?

[Stavros]

Did you even read the article you linked me to? Dallas is now Texas? Lol, I like how you can break down a statement, focus on one detail (dallas is in texas), and then form your argument. I was speaking about Texas, and the mob never ran Texas. However, the mob sure as hell ran New York.

Also, since you fail to understand human psychology, most people use guns as a means for posturing. The average citizen doesn't want confrontation, the average citizen doesn't want to shoot anyone, the average citizen wants to live his life in peace. I have had numerous friends with a permit to carry pull their guns and defuse situations that could of gotten real bad, real fast. Keeping the guns out of the hands of the nutters? You're insane, you are probably the same person who wants to restrict guns based off of the Virginia Tech shooting yet don't even realize that the amount of people killed there is tripled every weekend in Philadelphia. There is more going on here than just guns!

I don't understand your reaction -the 'Mob' has been in Texas since the 1920s, which means your argument they had been absent because Texans carry guns and dont get pushed around by 'the mob' is nonsense. And even if it wasn't the mob, if you read LBJ's biography you won't consider Texan politics to be much cleaner.

How can I be insane to want guns taken away from people who are mentally disturbed, or who fall into a depression because of some family problem, or get high on drugs etc?? Sounds pretty reasonable to me -my point was that it is precisely nutters who do most damage; other than gang-related stuff.

Sticking to the thread then, maybe we should know how that Neighbourhood Watch was formed, if it had a policy agreed with the police about 'volunteers' carrying weapons -I don't know how the NW schemes work in the US but we have them in the UK also, obviously without guns, but probably with a few Columbos. And as I said before, because many people had moved out of that gated community, Zimmerman -or any other NW volunteer- would not have known many of the new people who moved in, or their friends and relatives visiting from another town, as Trayvon and his father were that weekend. It wasn't really a 'neighbourhood' in the conventional sense.

[yodajazz]

So, trish, you want to give free rein to the thugs who will ALWAYS tuck their weapons, but you want people in states that don't have an "open carry" law to get arrested? You are a typical liberal idiot that doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground.

You appear to be suffering from the same idiocy that old dupree has. Halitosis Homophiliosis is not a pretty condition.

This appears to me to be an example of fear based thinking. This type of thinking person bases a large part of their life on thinking about 'thugs'. So they are carrying a weapon, and looking out for potential situations. But the time you spend thinking about, them you are missing the other 99.whatever % of humanity. I see people holding doors when I am carrying bags out of the store, and I say thanks. I am at peace with most all of humanity. The weapon you carry for protection maybe more likely to cause a serious accident. Case in point: a close friend of mines neighbor 14 year old son, killed his 10 year brother, saying he was playing around with the weapon. Everyone remembers them as inseparable. So now the mother has one child dead and the other was placed in a juvenile facility, and may be mentally scarred for life. What was more important, protecting the television, or the children's lives? Homes are filled with potential things that could be used for protection, besde guns.

A criminal with any sense, would catch a person off guard, even if they had a weapon they wouldn't have time to use it. That's how it happened to me when I was robbed. The criminal would have ended up taking my gun if I had had one. Then he would have had two guns. I still walked to the store at night, after that. I was just more aware of others. I could have used that $2.50, I lost, but I'm ok. I purposely did not carry my wallet that night.

But back to my original statement. The 'protecting oneself from thugs' based lifestyle in based on fear. Ancient wisdom indentifies it as tool of Satan. Satan is in reality a personification of destructive thinking. Or another way, to say it as leading to bad judgement, which leads us down the wrong paths. And example of that; would be thinking that immature, emotionally and hormonally charged, college kids, without parental supervision, should be alloewed to carry guns to classes.

[trish]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0321152627.htm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/po...ee-gu-12-03-22

[jamesedwards]

@Stravos, NW training will tell each person:
1. Don't carry a weapon
2. Don't engage a person call the police and let them handle it.

So right there again Zimmerman's ass is in trouble, he can't use his training as a back up to why he did what he did, he carried a weapon because HE wanted to. Zimmerman's case is all messed up, he has not a leg to stand on. I know the Martins are going to sue the hell out of the police department.

[jamesedwards]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0321152627.htm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/po...ee-gu-12-03-22

Great dam articles!!!!

"A quarter of all police shootings involve unarmed suspects. In a few recent cases, officers mistook cell phones and hairbrushes for guns, and shot and killed the victims. "

Guess what Trish? A frew weeks ago a African american man and woman were walking and the African american man was holding a cell phone to his ear talking don't you know a stupid cop shot at the man who wasn't even a suspect, and while shooting hit an African american woman and she died. The man lived because he put his hand to his face which he was shot in the hand and brought reporters back to the spot where he was shot. now he is not locked up because he didn't commit a crime, this was in Chicago don't you know the police chief said it was justified? What the fuck!!! HOw can that be justified? How do you shoot a woman who is just walking by kill her who had nothing to do with nothing and call that justified? To me this is worse than Trayvon case. This has got to stop.

[yodajazz]

Hey idiot, zimmermans assessment on martins looks ,was because he was asked by the 9/11 operator what he looked like, nbc tried to alter the conversation and insert racist undertones into what was said by zimmerman and they were rumbled,and a someone high up in that network who has been kept anon has been fired.

Obama ,as in other cases has jumped the gun without knowing the full facts. Basically because he is a cynical politician not because he identifies at all with martin or other african americans. Obama had a very privilaged upbringing and does not give a shit about them. He prefers the company of blonde thirty something white ex american football players, but that is another conversation.

And where did I say I didn't want zimmerman in jail,I told you what I think of him. Whatever his true intent I think he should be locked up for being a fucking idiot at least who killed someone. I don't even like the stand your ground law as I think it encourages cop freaks like him to act like serpico .In my view zimmerman should have been arrested and processed through the court system straight away. He took a life on the street and should not have been walking free for weeks. I also think it is wise to reserve some judgement on what happened that night until it goes to court but I doubt some here will as they seem to have been present that night and seen and heard it all with their own eyes. Because the media notoriously has made and is making mistakes about who said and did what.

Hold this thought, if the races were reversed and we had a black neighbourhood watch person with a cop fetish believing he is shaft, and a mixed raced young man who ended up dead, the race hustlers would probably be screaming self defence if they made a comment at all. Would obozo be jumping in before the court case I wonder to give us all the benefit of his wisdom, and the media altering 9/11 tapes?

If you think that the whole incident should be investigated more thouroughly, then you and I are in agreement. Apparently now the Florida legal, thinks so too. Perhaps evidence will come out to support his some of his claims. Perhaps some of the 'facts' we have heard in the media are not true. But most are curious to find out what is really true or not. I heard that in one previous month he called the police 46 times. Sounds like someone, who was looking for trouble, if this is true. Zimmerman should self checked himself and left his gun at home.

A much more sensible approach, would have just been to speak to Trayvon, in a friendly, non-confrontational way. If in fact, Martin was casing out places for criminal activity, he would know that Zimmerman may hve been able to clearly identify as a potential perpetrator, if a burglary had taken place at a later time. Our local newspaper, put a story of a neighborhood watch person who used that technique.

If the situation was reversed racially, I believe most people of color would still like it to be thouroughy investigated. There are enough crazy people in the neighborhood these days, so supicious circumstances should be checked out.

[jamesedwards]

A much more sensible approach, would have just been to speak to Trayvon, in a friendly, non-confrontational way.

How about Zimmerman not ENGAGING TRAYVON AT ALL like the dispatcher said not to? why do we keep giving Zimmerman the lead that he should of talked to Trayvon this or that way when he shouldn't have never approached Tray in the first place. No confrontation means there wouldn't have been a killing on Zimmerman's part. Zimmerman is not the police, he isn't the law he is nothing but a self proclaimed neighborhood watchmen captain. The only thing Zimmerman did was call police everything after that was stupidity on his part. This was a brutal murder and he needs to do time for it and he will then have al the precious time to think about what he did.

We know for a fact and it's indisputable, he killed A CHILD!!! for no dam reason, that's the absolute truth. The child was going to the store to get skittles and ice tea, coming back to where his father's girlfriend lived and to be approached by some wanna be hero cop that took his life for no apparent reason.

[jamesedwards]

The two most important facts are Zimmerman's phone call and was told not to engage and that girlfriend of Trayvon. It shows that Trayvon was scared of being followed and shows that Zimmerman is the aggressor!!! He is going to fucking jail!!!

[Odelay]

This appears to me to be an example of fear based thinking. This type of thinking person bases a large part of their life on thinking about 'thugs'. So they are carrying a weapon, and looking out for potential situations. But the time you spend thinking about, them you are missing the other 99.whatever % of humanity. I see people holding doors when I am carrying bags out of the store, and I say thanks. I am at peace with most all of humanity. The weapon you carry for protection maybe more likely to cause a serious accident. Case in point: a close friend of mines neighbor 14 year old son, killed his 10 year brother, saying he was playing around with the weapon. Everyone remembers them as inseparable. So now the mother has one child dead and the other was placed in a juvenile facility, and may be mentally scarred for life. What was more important, protecting the television, or the children's lives? Homes are filled with potential things that could be used for protection, besde guns.

A criminal with any sense, would catch a person off guard, even if they had a weapon they wouldn't have time to use it. That's how it happened to me when I was robbed. The criminal would have ended up taking my gun if I had had one. Then he would have had two guns. I still walked to the store at night, after that. I was just more aware of others. I could have used that $2.50, I lost, but I'm ok. I purposely did not carry my wallet that night.

But back to my original statement. The 'protecting oneself from thugs' based lifestyle in based on fear. Ancient wisdom indentifies it as tool of Satan. Satan is in reality a personification of destructive thinking. Or another way, to say it as leading to bad judgement, which leads us down the wrong paths. And example of that; would be thinking that immature, emotionally and hormonally charged, college kids, without parental supervision, should be alloewed to carry guns to classes.

Hey Yoda, just want to say that this is the most sensible post in this entire thread. Thanks.

BTW, the story about an adolescent kid accidentally killing his brother with a gun is way more common than people realize. I know two individuals who shot and killed their brothers at an early age. One is still pretty effed up by the experience. The other has a Masters degree and teaches kids with disabilities... a brilliant and compassionate person

[hippifried]

I was listening to NPR this morning & it was stated that Florida has moved to the top of the list for gun deaths per capita across the US since they enacted their shoot first "Stand your ground" law. Ain't that special?

In the same conversation, there came up something called the "Zimmerman vigilante law". It was prsented to the Congress by Wayne la Pierre, just 2 days after the Florida incident, (I guess old Wayne's clairvoyant too) & would extend SYG & concealed carry to all 50 states as a federal statute. They said It already passed the House & is sitting in the Senate right now. Oh boy!

So... If anybody's actually read any of the SYG laws, or the Florida shoot first law in particular, I have a question: Is it just guns, specifically, that are covered by the law, or the use of violence in general? Are you covered using a knife to open up your attacker like a can of beans? How about cracking the threat's skull by picking up a brick? Where do fists come into play?