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

[buds]

If you wind up stalking an unarmed kid, tell the police "They always get away" and shoot and kill the kid, then yes...bringing a gun to the scene is evidence (not necessarily proof) that you intended to shoot someone that night (not necessarily someone you knew, but that you just had an itch to play vigilante and take it all the way). The statement about always getting away may be enough to establish that intent. It depends on the jury.

A gun in your pocket might make you feel like a big man, but it won't change your dick size. In the interests of everybody's safety and sense of decorum, leave your gun at home and your teeny weenie in your pants.

he didn't stalk a unarmend young man he simply asked him what he was doing in the gated community in which he did not live. At this point if martin said i am staying at my dads while i am suspended from school he probably would be alive.

he never told the police they always get away with it, that was to a dispatcher.

he was carrying because he was out in the middle of the night by himself watching out for trouble while everybody else slept. It seems to me everytime he called 911 they blew him off. that would be why his statement was they get away with it because the 911 dispatchers were lazy and didn't do shit when he did call something suspicious in.

[buttslinger]

So george must have felt he was protecting himself then.

I wonder if he would have protected himself from 5 black kids.

[buds]

I know that. But it doesn't invalidate what I said.

Sure it does. If i choose to carry and by law i am allowed, it does not mean i am looking to shoot someone only to protect myself from somebody that might like to live by stealing and hurting others.

like i posted before. I'm not saying george is right or martin was right. I believe it was just two wanna be tough guys that ended up in a bad situation and one was better prepared to live another day. Might not be a good life but he made a decision in a split second that now will dictate the rest of his life.

[buds]

I wonder if he would have protected himself from 5 black kids.

Why did you have to bring race into this????

And to answer your question, his clip holds 7 rounds........

[InHouston]

The police said Zimmerman's continued "assistance" was not needed. So you admit it was "stupid and dangerous" (your words) for Zimmerman to continue his pursuit. Why? Because the consequence may be "bad." Indeed the consequences were bad. To cause a death by willful and needless pursuit of a dangerous activity IS illegal. It's called negligence and the appropriate charge is manslaughter.

No it's not negligence nor is it manslaughter Trish. You should look at this from another angle. The Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine Laws are here in these states to protect people from being victimized by criminals who have evolved into horribly violent people over the last decade. The law is not the problem.

The choice Zimmerman made was a tactical error on his part the police tried to tell him not to get involved in. The police have told me more than once, "We can show up in time to draw a chalk line around your dead body. Call us, and remain under the radar and just be safe and use your weapon if you're cornered by someone." Now if I'm in a store and a band of robbers come in with guns drawn to rob the store, I can legally engage and kill those people, or retreat to the back of the store and defend where I stand. The problem and Catch-22 in that is, if you engage will you get these guys, or get yourself killed? If you don't, and you retreat, will innocent people get killed because you did nothing? That’s a question that has woke me up many times in the night. Imagine if a mother was killed during a robbery and I did nothing, and her husband knew I was in the store legally armed. They are perplexing questions, but the answer is to protect you first.



They teach such prerogatives and hard choices during concealed handgun training and leave those choices up to you. In Texas, Transgendered people have very liberal rights to arm themselves to protect themselves at all times. It's a good law. When I got my CHL license, I had numerous talks with my instructors and many stop and talks with police officers who shared their experience with me on the "do's and don'ts" of carrying a firearm. Rule #1, not the law, just prudence, don't run into a situation you can avoid. You're armed, and just take a defensive stance on situations against yourself. Zimmerman didn't give a lot of thought to what he was doing, because he tried to be a stand-up guy for the cops and his neighborhood. It was a valiant effort on his part, but he ended up isolated and alone and had to shoot his way out of it when Treyvon started beating him up. That’s not murder. It’s a mutual combat scenario. They both spooked each other and over-reacted. That’s not murder. It’s just unfortunate. Cops are better trained to ascertain when and how to react during a dynamic encounter with a suspicious person.



The law is not the problem. If anything, law enforcement should conduct public education programs on how to better assist them in community watch efforts. Often, citizens are left to figure out things on their own without the vast experience offered at police academies. They should share this experience with citizens who want to step up and assist in crime watch.

Zimmerman simply miscalculated, and got isolated alone with a suspect. Cops don’t do that, because they’re trained to pursue with backup.


There was no intention on his part to hunt down Treyvon and shoot him. He was running point for the police to catch him, because he took off running. Zimmerman made him run by encountering him. He could have just played it cool, acted like he was out for a stroll, and when the squad cars arrived, subtly pointed his finger at Treyvon, made a U-turn and walk away.


That’s where he went wrong. It’s not illegal. It was stupid of him to do that, because he had to shoot his way out of an ass-whipping Treyvon put on him. Treyvon wouldn’t have jumped the cops when they showed up. Treyvon shouldn’t have tripped out and jumped Zimmerman anyway.

[trish]

The Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine Laws are here in these states to protect people from being victimized by criminals

Utter nonsense. We all know exactly what SYG laws are about: little boys with rich fantasy lives want to play with their toys out in public and play vigilante hero. We've seen what happens when such laws are on the books. THE LAW IS A BIG PROBLEM, not to mention the idiots (training or not) who carry concealed weapons. Men carry their guns out in the open. Real men don't carry at all. Like you need a gun in a gated community.

Look at it this way: Needless endangerment resulting in death falls under the category of manslaughter. Being negligent of the risks of your actions to the lives of unarmed kids is reckless endangerment. When it ends in death it's a homicide.

Zimmerman did not make a tactical error. He was negligent, reckless. His action was "stupid" and "dangerous." Those are your words. Don't go flip-flopping on me now. Tactical...right.

[robertlouis]

Sure it does. If i choose to carry and by law i am allowed, it does not mean i am looking to shoot someone only to protect myself from somebody that might like to live by stealing and hurting others.

like i posted before. I'm not saying george is right or martin was right. I believe it was just two wanna be tough guys that ended up in a bad situation and one was better prepared to live another day. Might not be a good life but he made a decision in a split second that now will dictate the rest of his life.

No it doesn't. I'm not questioning your intention when you set out with a gun in your pocket, or your right by law to do so. But you cannot deny that the mere possession of the gun, and the possibility of circumstances arising in which you use it, could end up with you committing what a court may define as murder.

[giovanni_hotel]

THe problem is Travyon told his GF almost from the moment he entered the gated community from 7-11 that someone, who happened to be George Zimmerman, was following him. If someone is following you for 3+ blocks, gets out of their car and runs you down, a reasonable person is allowed to think they're being stalked.

Have any of you ever been followed by a stranger for a period a time and then were confronted by them??

I've been 'followed' by a person I didn't recognize at first when I've been out in unfamiliar potentially dangerous locations, and in those few seconds your mind goes extremely negative, fight or flight mode totally kicks in inside your head.

When a stranger runs up on you after following you for several blocks inside their SUV, no normal person is thinking, 'I wonder what this nice gentleman wants to talk to me about?'

If my Black ass was following some of you gun toters in my ride and then suddenly I got out of my car and ran up on you, I doubt any of you would be in the mood for polite conversation. In fact I bet most of you would have your firearm unholstered with your finger on the trigger.

Trayvon ran to AVOID A CONFRONTATION WITH GEORGE, and then felt he was cornered by this hispanic looking dude with a shaved head wearing a red jacket at night. I don't know where you're from, but IMO at night Zimmerman looks like a gang banger. Gang members confront 'strangers' all the time who enter their turf with some BS, 'what are you doing here?', and if you give the wrong answer the reply back could be a gunshot to the dome.

Why was Trayvon scared, scared enough to fight a stranger??

All this is compounded by the fact that Zimmerman for some reason thought this kid who from all reports was TALKING ON HIS CELLPHONE was about to commit a crime and looked dangerously suspicious.

Zimmerman IMO has borderline personality disorder and if he hadn't killed Travyon, eventually was going to gun down a 'suspicious looking BM' in Sanford.

[giovanni_hotel]

[giovanni_hotel]

giovanni-
Where do you stand on the Redskins team name? I admit guilt on this one.

LOL!! Guilty as charged. Skins fan 4life!!!!

HTTR