General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Dear White America: Its time to get the message [View all]The Traveler
(5,632 posts)One of the reasons why I'm angry is because the 2nd Amendment (which I support) has been perverted, distorted, and used to develop a rationale for changes in law which make it permissible to shoot someone because of your fear. Well, not all fear is rational or justified, and a claim of fear can be used to cover other and darker motivations.
In any event, the net result is that it seems OK in our judicial system to shoot black kids. WTF? I believe in the right of self defense ... but that right has to be equally secured. Does anyone know of a case where a black person has successfully applied "Stand Your Ground" as a defense for shooting a white person? The Dooley case in point ... I think Mr. Dooley (an elderly black male) had a much more solid basis for a SYG defense than Zimmerman. But as I recall he was not permitted that defense. So I'm trying to think of another case. I'm coming up empty, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. But I sure haven't heard of it.
SYG has turned out to be a horrible idea. Pretty much as I predicted. If equally applied, it turns our streets into the wild west. If unequally applied, it provides a legal basis for semi-random lynching by gun fire. And for some perverse reason, it seems that SYG cases predominantly involve the homicide of young people of color. They're killing our kids.
And, yeah, black folk, I regard your kids as our kids. If they can do it to yours they can do it to mine. My kids play with your kids. We really are in this crap together.
So, trust me, I DO get this message. I agree with it. We have to do something. We have to overturn/repeal/throw out these SYG laws. And, in broader scope, we have to get some control over guns.
And we can do this sanely, rationally, and equitably without violating the spirit and letter of the 2nd Amendment. All provisions of the Bill of Rights are to be approached with care ... but none of them are absolute. Freedom of speech, for example, does not include the right to slander or libel. It's OK with me if I have to undergo a background check to retain my guns, if such a process is equitably implemented and improves the safety of the public. (And I do believe it will.)
Pardon the rant. But the subject sets me off. Sometimes I try to imagine the pain the parents of these murdered kids experience ... my imagination is not adequate to the task but the result is horrible enough. People, we can't tolerate this nightmare. We can't allow it.
Trav