Self-defense: Duty to retreat or Stand your ground

[spin]

46. Many posters in the gungeon who support concealed carry and gun rights ...

are disturbed by the Trayvon Martin shooting.

I often post there and have a Florida Concealed Weapons permit. With the information that I have gleaned from the news, I feel that there are enough facts to justify the arrest and prosecution of the "neighborhood watch captain".

George Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious individual and was told that police were responding and not to interfere. He, for some reason, chose to leave his car and confront Trayvon Martin. Therefore in my opinion I feel that he initiated the situation and might have escalated it perhaps by drawing his weapon to gain leverage in the argument.

Had Zimmerman followed the instructions from the 911 operator the situation would have never happened. I suspect that Zimmerman was a wannabe cop.

I may have a carry license but I am not a cop or a vigilante. I have absolutely no desire to play "hero" or to run around combating crime. People with far better training than I have are paid to do such work. I carry a firearm for personal self defense and the only time I would ever use it is if I was absolutely certain that another individual was in the process of attacking me or a member of my family with the intention of inflicting serious injury or death. If I felt that lethal force was not required to stop the attack, I would use it. I have some skills in martial arts and often carry pepper spray.

The last thing that I ever want to do is to shoot another person and it may well be the last thing I ever do as there is no guarantee my actions will stop my attacker. If I was in such a situation and survived, I would expect a thorough investigation would follow and if there were any questions that my actions were appropriate, I would face prosecution.

As I read the Florida "Stand Your Ground" law, I find that it does not remove my requirement to only use lethal force when I have a legitimate reason to use such force only when I damn good reason to believe that I have no other choice. The fact that I no longer have to retreat when under attack doesn't change the standards.

Use of Deadly Force for Lawful Self-Defense

***snip***

Q. When can I use my handgun to protect myself?

A. Florida law justifies use of deadly force when you are:

Trying to protect yourself or another person from death or serious bodily harm;
Trying to prevent a forcible felony, such as rape, robbery, burglary or kidnapping.

Using or displaying a handgun in any other circumstances could result in your conviction for crimes such as improper exhibition of a firearm, manslaughter, or worse.

***snip***

Q. What if someone uses threatening language to me so that I am afraid for my life or safety?

A. Verbal threats are not enough to justify the use of deadly force. There must be an overt act by the person which indicates that he immediately intends to carry out the threat. The person threatened must reasonably believe that he will be killed or suffer serious bodily harm if he does not immediately take the life of his adversary.
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/weapons/self_defense.html

With I information that I have, I can see little or no reason why Zimmerman hasn't been arrested and charged.