Well, in Florida — and several other states — that's likely. The NRA is successfully pushing state legislation to make it easier to kill someone to defend your property. While that may sound fine to some on the surface — one certainly ought to be able to defend oneself — there are practical problems. Is it really justifiable to kill someone because he's stealing your stereo? And what about hiding behind "I was defending myself!" when the issue is far more petty?:
Jason Rosenbloom was shot twice during a dispute over how many garbage bags Mr. Rosenbloom had put out. The shooter was not arrested.
In the states with these relaxed laws, one no longer need show that one was actually being threatened, nor that one feared for one's safety. One no longer need make any attempt to leave or to deal with the situation in any alternative way. If you enter my property illegally, I can kill you.
It's no surprise what region of the country most of these states are in: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Oklahoma are among them. Interestingly, Texas is not, perhaps because its laws in this regard are already quite relaxed. What's even more worrisome is that the NRA is lobbying for similar laws in eight other states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is working against the NRA on this, but they can't match the resources the NRA has. These laws have to be stopped, lest we turn half the country into the old west of 125 years ago.
1 comment:
Clearly this law violates the Constitution of the US as cruel and unusual punishment. The NRA should be advocating defense of personal property by lethal injection.
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