How The Right Wing "ALEC" Teamed Up With The NRA To Get Copycat, "Stand Your Ground" Laws In 21

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/story/154689/how_the_right_wing_%22alec%22_teamed_up_with_the_nra_to_get_copycat%2C_%22stand_your_ground%22_laws_in_21_states/

How The Right Wing "ALEC" Teamed Up With The NRA To Get Copycat, "Stand Your Ground" Laws In 21 States

There is little doubt that it was George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old self-appointed "neighborhood watch vigilante," who shot and killed the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month as he "returned from a trip to 7-11 with an iced tea and a pack of Skittles."

Less known is the relationship between the Florida "stand your ground" law, which may allow the killer of Trayvon Martin to walk free, and a powerful but private, behind-the-scenes organization that has channeled such bills into the legislatures of Florida and other states.

The Florida law that is drawing such sudden attention due to the death of a teenager in Sanford "is the template for an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 'model bill' that has been pushed in other states," PR Watch's Brendan Fischer recently reported.

Fischer says that "Evidence suggests a major reason Zimmerman thought he needed to use deadly force against the unarmed Martin is because the teen was black... Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime."

According to Fischer, "The bill was brought to ALEC by the National Rifle Association (NRA), and fits into a pattern of ALEC bills that disproportionately impact communities of color."

[ananda]

1. Yup.

Put a gun in enough people's hands, and you will get two things for sure:

A human tragedy

and

Huge profits for some.

[onehandle]

2. Just like the rounds of anti-gay marriage and the current anti-vote laws.

NRA = GOP

Period.