Where are all these Travis Bickle, um, I mean Zimmerman supporters coming from?

[iverglas]

49. once upon a time, many years ago in the Guns forum ...

There was a very similar tale posted and discussed.

On Hallowe'en night, a doorbell rang at the house of an accountant who happened to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon (although of course he didn't need that in his house) and a pistol.

He thought to himself: "Burglars!" Burglars, of course, always announce their intentions by ringing doorbells. And what better to do than open the door, when burglars are likely to be on the other side?

So he did open the door, with his trusty pistol in hand, of course, as was his wont when people rang his doorbell at night, apparently. On the lawn were two teenaged boys, running away. Amazing: neighbourhood kids were playing doorbell on Hallowe'en.

He shot at them. He hit one in the back and killed him.

The Guns regulars rallied around him. And no charges had been laid, so obviously the police and prosecutors agreed -- it was a righteous shoot! (And this was before that "castle law" crap, which would not have mattered anyway since the victim was not in or attempting to enter the killer's home.)

Nothing would sway them. So I vowed to keep an eye on the case. I googled from time to time.

And whaddaya know. He was charged and he pleaded guilty, although only to manslaughter.

I figure the local prosecutor figured the chance of getting a Florida jury to convict on murder was slim ...


the initial report and discussion in the Guns forum in 2003

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=118&topic_id=29140#29252iverglas ... once again ... provides all the information about the Boca Raton / doorbell / teenager shot in the back story that anyone could possibly want.
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(a little veteran moderator discussion there about civilityin the Guns forum, too )


Hell, over the years, the Guns forum has had its staunch defenders even of Tony Martin, the unbalanced bigot and cause célèbre of the right wing everywhere, who also shot a fleeing teenager in the back and killed him, in England, and was also eventually convicted.