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You did bring up and still contend that the law was to enable white people to shoot black people with more "ease." I haven't heard much more than your opinion that this is the case.
We'll wait for the final outcome of any legal proceedings. But putting up a SYG defense is what any attorney will float as a trial balloon (they used to call it "self defense"
. And speaking of "premature" matters, do you agree with the HuffPo characterization of this incident as "murder?" Since there there have been no indictments?
But very little in the way of data to show where abuses have occurred. Frankly, I would like to see these, and not some flippant from an AP reporter (discussing the Zimmerman case) that SYG abuses (in her examples, drug deals gone bad) happen "all the time."
If they are happening "all the time," then there should be some coherent data floating around out there.
I'm not going to try this case, but in answer to your question, and based on what has been reported, he should be brought to trial on some kind of homicide charge. I'm betting he will.
Dunn may very well be too loosely wrapped, but you can say that about ANYONE who murders or commits suicide (in Austin, TX for 2011, the number one weapon-of-choice of murders was a "knife or sharp-edged instrument" . In any event, psychological conditions that make one unsuitable for weapons possession must be done through due process; the Fifth amendment.
Frankly, SYG laws are less of an abuse than, in many areas, the "duty to retreat" used as a standard to thwart self-defense pleas. It's not perfect, but I don't want a system whereby some 65-yr-old dude, upon being attacked by a gang of young toughs, has to prove he could have hobbled off more quickly, yelled more loudly, called for help, or did some other hat & cane routine to Suwannee River lest he plea down to some lesser man-slaughter charge.
In the end, I think there will be little to come of SYG in terms of social policy, although I hope it will thwart (or discourage in the first place) thugs from attacking others. I am not convinced of this, however.
Not all 65-yr-olds are suffering from dimentia (or from... I forgot. What was I saying?).
Yes, I think we would all be better off. I'll be 65 myself in February...I think it's February...
My son went to college at UCF, just a bit down the road from Sanford (where the Martin kid lost his life). He said that all of his frat brothers and friends knew to stay out of Sanford... It had a reputation for being less than hospitable.... This from a white kid and his mostly white frat brothers.
I'm glad we are able to conclude on a friendly note. 
Dementia is so sad to watch develop. My mom passed away at the age of 88. By that time she was living in several alternate realities.
Sometimes she thought she was the owner of a Bed 'n Breakfast when in reality it was the Assisted Living facility in which she lived. Other times she thought she was an agent for the CIA. Her older brother lived until the ripe old age of 97 and had all his faculties right up until he died peacefully in his sleep, in his own bed in his own condo.
So you are Florida born and bred.... I'm one of those "damned Yankees" as explained to me by a Virginian ... a Yankee is one who comes for a visit and goes home, a "damned Yankee is one who comes and stays. 
right? I became so confused for a moment...haven't we had this conversation before?
Where extreme wealth lives cheek by jowl with extreme poverty. I agree with your theory...it is that acceptability factor that makes it different. Roughly 33% of Florida is 'native' Floridian and if you scratch that surface you'll find all varieties of bigotry. Then, as you say, formerly closeted bigots move here and find they can vocalize sentiments better left unsaid.
Years ago my daughter used to date a young man from Idaho, one of the things I liked most about him was that lack of sexism of which you speak. He had nothing but disdain for the Florida version of "hunting". His father owned over 100 guns...I always found that fascinating.
a culture shock! I'm from the northeast....Born in Brooklyn, NY, lived in PA and VA for a few years each then NJ for 16 years before moving to Florida and it was a culture shock to me. I imagine that you must have felt as if you had left the planet.
some vengeful psychotic could...that was my point.
See, we have had a meeting of the minds. So, in your opinion, would I be justified in writing to my state representative asking him to take a look at the Texas SYG Law which works well and makes more sense than the FL law? Is that the only difference? I admit it is certainly a significant one.
It's not related to a particular aspect of self-defense law... it's the system itself. 
Last edited Thu Nov 29, 2012, 08:04 PM - Edit history (2)
DU has found him guilty in a Cyber Trial. Therefore he will stand on the platform, and the rope of JUSTICE placed about his neck.
Who here is willing to pull the lever?
A beautiful young man, a good kid by all reports, with a bright future ahead of him, one who it appears did nothing to provoke an attack, is dead because a man with a gun decided to open fire on a carload of teenagers who didn't turn down their music. The shooter then drives off, seemingly totally without concern about the harm he'd just done, and has to be tracked down by police. Then he cries SYG, backed up by his attorney, and apparently feels no remorse about blowing away a young man who now has no future and whose family is devastated by this senseless act. I call the shooter a craven coward and can only hope there will be consequences for his actions, but have a feeling he'll more likely be given hero status by those who conclude he was justified.
Me? As the grandmother of a 15-year-old grandson, a good kid with a bright future, as well as a caring, compassionate human being, I feel absolutely sickened by this event. Not to mention, on the verge of tears. What a sad, sad day for all of us.
