I'm gonna say it and I don't care what gun nuts think...

[Nanjing03]

202. The State Dropped the Ball -- They Can Pick It Up

Yes, the state is indeed obliged to prove that he didn't act with just cause. However, they have to investigate to do that. That is where the state -- not the law -- dropped the ball by choosing to get out of the business of investigating. I served as an investigator for our department's office of general counsel. Sadly, if you give counsel generals and their "generally" overworked staffs a reason to not pursue a case, they'll seize the opportunity and run away from it every time. I think that is what happened here. It became common to assume that the law was sufficient in itself and the bar was lowered sufficiently over time that the practice of inaction became accepted.


In our state, "every” shooting incident -- regardless of the situation and regardless of whether the participants are private citizens, law enforcement officers, private security personnel, whatever -- a timely investigation is always conducted. The weapon must be kept as evidence throughout the investigation and the person who used deadly force must be available for questioning at any time. If the timely investigation reveals criminal wrongdoing, then the shooter is arrested and held until trial. If not, then s/he is released.


Finally, prior to 1995, Florida may have painted themselves into a corner by dragging out their investigations, which usually translates into "doing them when they feel like it" while armed citizens who had used justifiable deadly force were forced to wait, ponder and worry about the outcome and their fate in the far distant future -- usually at the cost of the person's career, finances, family and personal health. I believe that there was a case to that effect that led to this law in Florida. Unlike the rest of the 25 or so states that also have "stand your ground" provisions, Florida officials took it a step too far to imply that no investigation was necessary. That can be fixed -- and probably will when all is said and done.