Kansas has a stand your ground law, copied within weeks of Florida passing theirs, (red states are fat with legislation copy cat activity these days). Ask about the law our state dick heads say it is different and would never have Florida's trouble, we inserted the word "reasonable" into our law. Well, jeeze, glad I live in a state of intellectuals who figured out how to thwart overreaction.
Now coming to light is an event two months ago. A young man was out walking his dog early in the day, a daily routine. He was approached by a man with a rifle who said he would kill him if he didn't lay down in the street, he held the gun on him, repeating many times he would kill him if he moved. The rifleman dialed 911. The dog walker lay still and said nothing, he was sure he would die becuase the rifleman was nervous aggressive and constantly fumbling with the phone and rifle. When the police arrived he informed them he was making a citizens arrest of a suspect in his recent house burglary. The police immediately sent the rifleman to his house and released the dog walker, they did not believe for a minute he was the burglar.
The dog walker signed a complaint of assault and threats of intent to kill him. Two months and the police can't figure out what to do with this. It appears the rifleman, any rifleman can approach people and threaten them with death, force them to lie down or come with them, or blow them I don't know, and the gunman not the person laying in a city street is the victim. We will see if the gunman is ever charged, but it appears the dog walker has no recourse against anyone anywhere who has a gun and decides to play cowboy, that sounds "reasonable".
Hey, he didn't shoot him. Sounds reasonable to me ...
ReplyDeleteI guess the dog walker should get his own gun and, ah, 'stand his ground'? Next time?
NAC, hey your still moving about. Sure, didn't shoot him.
DeleteHey I am reading a self organized trilogy of books right now that are related in subject. "Who Shot Kirov" finished, "God's Jury" half way through, and "Darkness at Noon" will be the book end.
The book about Kirov is about a guy who was high in the politburo with Stalin, but who bucked Stalin often, was well liked, as much as someone with blood on his hands and in charge of millions of starving people can be, how he was shot and the trials that followed which opened the doors for the Stalin purges that killed millions and stunted the nation further. The people that were hunted for being a relative or classmate of an accused, tortured, sent to labor camps, or shot, the thing became a machine that needed the fuel of souls to spit out the suffering and dispair and people rarely even ran to hide, their was no future either in fighting the charges or in hiding.
The second book is subtitled "The Inquisition and the Making of the Modewrn World, it's new on the shelves. About the mechanism of hunting enemies of the church or state and using the kings and states to do the dirty work after confessions were wrenched from minorities, intellectuals and political enemies. Most though is the standards used have come back to haunt us many times, even with Bush and his handlers deciding torture was OK for the highest purposes and those involved are immune from guilt as long as they get results. It is very interesting.
The last one is a novel based on a number of figures and situations that occurred in the Soviet Union, the trials and the struggle of prisoners and people caught up in it to hang onto something, anything, religion, sanity, and to figure out how to get through some of it, and just admit and let the machine eat you on other issues.
I can't wait to get into the third book, the novel, and tie it up with the first 2 books.
In Florida, the ground you are standing can shift too. Guy saw another man attempting to break into his car, grabbed a knife, and chased the would-be burglar down, then stabbed would-be burglar to death. Decision of judge? Case tossed on grounds of stand your ground. Justifiable homicides there have tripled since the law passed.
ReplyDeleteGuys,
ReplyDeleteI love my guns. But, all are for sporting. Now, walking down a street packing a rifle or shotgun will get some very upset IMPD offiers with guns too - finding out what you are doing.
Whem you by your actions present a threat to others - then, the cops need called.
If someone is of not presenting a immenent threat of death or injury to you - I cannot see why any use of deadly force might be warranted.
Now, someone breaks into your home - smoke the asshole! Outside the home is different.
Sarge
Retaliation is related to nature and instinct, not to law. Law, by definition, cannot obey the same rules as nature.
ReplyDelete