Michael Dunn, Florida Man, Invokes 'Stand Your Ground' Law After Shooting Black Teen

[Eleanors38]

103. Well, there is a lot of stuff from MSM about "license to kill...."

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&quot . 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.