'Fearful and trigger happy': flooded with guns and paranoia, the US reels from shootings [View all]
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Guardian UK) Waldes Thomas and Diamond Darville were driving for the grocery delivery service Instacart near Miami in mid-April when they drove the order up to the wrong address.
Thomas, 19, and Darville, 18, reportedly told authorities they were backing away from the home when the owner emerged with his son, grabbed on to the drivers window and fired a gun three times at their car. Antonio Caccavale, who didnt hit anyone, later reportedly claimed to police who investigated the encounter that he shot because he feared for his and his sons lives as Thomas and Darvilles car ran over his foot and struck a boulder.
Eventually, police concluded everyone including Caccavale acted justifiably based on the circumstances they perceived, leading to no arrests.
It remains to be seen whether the polices interpretation of the case is the final word on the matter. A local prosecutor told ABC News in a statement that he would evaluate whether Caccavale should be charged, adding that the safety of the entire Instacart community is incredibly important to his office.
Nonetheless, that case, along with a spate of recent shootings across the country which victimized Americans who approached property owners by mistake or for an otherwise innocent reason, did not only vividly illustrate how the US is flooded with guns. It all also showed how people who are made paranoid by the nations bitter political climate believe they can use guns with impunity thanks to firearms laws and self-defense statutes that in many states are remarkably permissive, according to experts who spoke with the Guardian this week.
A lot of people who shouldnt have guns, who dont need them, who dont know how to use them safely
are fearful and trigger happy, said the president of Global Action on Gun Violence, Jonathan Lowy. And its inevitable that that will lead to tragedies like were seeing. ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/30/usa-gun-crime-paranoia-self-defense-gun-laws