Massive study by the Rand Corporation finds that NRA backed gun policies actually increase the number of gun homicides and violent crime. Quick, put on your surprised face.

Courtesy of WaPo:

The best available evidence suggests two major National Rifle Association gun policy prescriptions — what are known as “stand your ground” self-defense laws and permissive concealed carry laws — increase homicides and violent crime. 

That is according to a massive new study by the RAND Corporation, an independent think tank. The group's experts scoured thousands of academic papers on gun violence in an effort to make definitive statements about how gun policies affect crime and safety. They winnowed that list down to only the highest-quality studies — just 62 in total — containing evidence capable of establishing a causal link between a gun policy change and a specific outcome. 

Because the RAND researchers' criteria for including studies in their final analysis were rigorous, for the majority of policies and outcomes, there was not enough good research to make any definitive statements — a clear indication of how little we know about how to prevent gun violence. But there were notable exceptions.

There is moderate evidence, for instance, that “stand your ground” laws, which remove the requirement for gun owners to attempt to retreat from a situation before using lethal force, increase total rates of homicide. A 2013 study, for instance, found that states passing such laws saw 6 percent to 11 percent increases in their total homicide rate. Another study found that Florida experienced a significant 24 percent increase in total homicides and 32 percent increase in firearm homicides following enactment of the stand-your-ground law in 2005.

Gee, how completely unsurprising.

Now if you are relatively new to the whole gun debate question, you may be asking yourself why is there is so little research into the impact that guns have on our society, the answer to that is both simple and infuriating.

Courtesy of Vox:  

For decades, the federal government, with the support of the National Rifle Association, has made it very difficult to answer a question at the heart of American public health and safety: Does gun control work? 

The answer is hugely important given that guns killed nearly 39,000 Americans in 2016 alone. But after research on gun violence in the 1990s found that firearms do not — contrary to NRA talking points — make people safer, the group backed a federal funding freeze on gun policy research.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, the reason that the government does not have reams of well researched data to back up their policy decisions, is because the NRA recognized decades ago that having access to that data would undermine their mythology about more guns leading to less gun fatalities.

Guns kill. Period.

And more guns, kill more people. Period.

And the NRA actually know this, which is why they have spent millions to obstruct research. Once again, period.

I think one of the first things that the blue wave of Democrats coming into Congress and the Senate in 2018 need to do is to is thaw out that gun research freeze from the 90's, and start accumulating some real data to use in order to move forward with comprehensive new gun control legislation.

Since implementing the "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida killings with a firearm have gone up 31.6 percent. Gee, who saw that coming?

Courtesy of The Daytona Beach News Journal:

Florida has seen an "abrupt and sustained" increase in killings by firearm since the state's controversial stand your ground law was enacted in 2005, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

The monthly rate of homicides by firearm increased 31.6 percent, according to the study. 

The results were to be expected, said Charles Rose, a law professor at Stetson University's College of Law. 

"It's not surprising because when you lessen the standard for self-defense you create more opportunity for the use of deadly force. When you have more opportunity for the use of deadly force you are going to have more fatalities. It's pretty much guaranteed," Rose said.

Florida's stand your ground law was the first in the nation and has been followed by similar laws in other states. The law eliminated the duty to retreat if someone "reasonably believed" that deadly force was necessary to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm or prevent a forcible felony and it protects the shooter both from criminal prosecution and lawsuits. The law drew national attention after George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in 2012 during a confrontation in Sanford. Zimmerman did not depend on the stand your ground law but did claim self-defense and was acquitted by a jury.

Of course the Florida senator who first proposed the law believes the study is flawed, clearly because it does not reach his preconceived conclusions about the law's impact.

However it certainly does not take a statistician to recognize that if more people feel encouraged to shoot first and ask questions later, that they will in fact shoot first and ask questions later.

We are turning into a country of terrified little panty waists who think our go to position when feeling threatened is to utilize deadly force.

Whatever happened to shaping the response to fit the threat?

When I trained it was beaten into my head to ONLY use as much force as necessary to protect myself and incapacitate my attacker.

The very idea of using deadly force was defined as only something to be used in the most dire of circumstances.

These are the guidelines for an appropriate response to aggression.

It is better to walk away than to injure.

Bettter to injure than to maim.

Better to maim than to kill.

And better to kill than to allow innocents to die.

Going immediately to the fourth option is not the response of a brave man. It is the response of a coward.

Retired Florida police officer who shot and killed a man for throwing popcorn will use the "stand your ground" defense. Well of course he will.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A retired police officer who gunned down a married father who threw popcorn at him will use Florida’s “stand your ground” law as his defense when he goes on trial for murder. 

The lawyer for Curtis Reeves confirmed that the retired Tampa police captain would use the controversial law to claim self-defense in the fatal Jan. 13, 2014, shooting, reported the Tampa Bay Times. 

The 73-year-old Reeves was charged with second-degree murder after he shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson to death because he refused to stop sending a text message to his 2-year-old daughter’s day care provider. 

Reeves’ attorney has maintained all along that video recorded inside the Wesley Chapel movie theater will show that Oulson attacked the older man first — causing Reeves to fear for his life. 

Defendants must show they had a “reasonable belief” that they were threatened before using force — even if no such threat actually existed. 

Reeves told investigators that he feared for his safety when he was struck in the face with an object that was later determined was popcorn, but his defense attorney suggested may have been a more dangerous object.

"May have been a more dangerous object?"

Once the popcorn actually hits your face are you not then aware that it was NOT a more dangerous object?

The idea that this asshole could get away with murder by claiming that he was terrified of flying popcorn sickens me.

But hey, this IS Florida.l

Florida man who shot and killed unarmed teenager over loud music sentenced to life in prison.

Courtesy of CNN:  

A Florida judge Friday sentenced Michael Dunn to life in prison without parole for the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. 

The sentence, imposed nearly two years after Dunn shot and killed Davis during an argument over loud music, also carries an additional 90 years for three convictions of attempted murder and firing a weapon into a vehicle. 

"This case demonstrates that our justice system does work," Duval County Judge Russell Healey said moments before sentencing Dunn.

I think this verdict is very good news, especially for those of us who worried that this guy would get  the "Zimmerman treatment" and be allowed to simply walk free after killing this kid in cold blood.

I think the judge really summed things up well with these words: 

"Mr. Dunn, your life is effectively over," Healey said. "What is sad... is that this case exemplifies that our society seems to have lost its way."

"We should remember there is nothing wrong with retreating and deescalating the situation," the judge said.

And good riddance to bad garbage in my opinion. Just check out the non-apology apology that Dunn offered the family right before his sentencing:

"I want the Davis family to know I truly regret what happened," he said. "I'm sorry for their loss. If I could roll back time and do things differently, I would." 

He feared for his life, he said. 

"I did what I thought I had to do," Dunn said. "Still, I am mortified I took a life, whether it was justified or not."

So even in the end this POS is trying to make the case that he felt he was in danger and was only trying to protect himself.

That is such bullshit. This asshole lost his temper and used a gun to take out his anger on a car full of unarmed teenagers, killing one.

If he had not had a gun this would have just been a frustrating altercation that he could have bitched about later on Facebook. But because he lives in America, and every asshole who can afford one is allowed to purchase a gun, this 17 year old is now dead.

The judge is right, society has lost its way.

And finally some good news for today. Florida man who shot unarmed teenager over loud music found guilty of murder.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

A Florida man was convicted Wednesday in the 2012 fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager amid a dispute over loud rap music blaring from a car. 

Jurors in the racially tinged retrial deliberated for about five hours before finding Michael Dunn guilty of first-degree murder. 

It was the second time that Mr. Dunn, 47, a software developer who claimed self-defense in the death of Jordan Davis, 17, faced a jury. In February, a jury convicted Mr. Dunn of three counts of second-degree attempted murder – one for each of the surviving teenagers in the Dodge Durango — a crime for which he could receive a 60-year prison sentence.

I am sure that many of you remember this case from 2012, and perhaps even remember that Dunn compared himself to a rape victim at one point.

When the first jury could not agree on the first degree murder conviction, and the judge declared a mistrial, I think most of us were confused as to how such a thing could possibly happen.

I find it interesting that the former jury could not come to an agreement on the first degree murder charge, and yet this one only had to deliberate for about five hours before finding him guilty.

From CNN to Robert Zimmerman, "You and your brother are monsters."

GQ has published a rather comprehensive piece on George Zimmerman and his family, which you can find here.

Here are a few excerpts.

On plans to turn George into a reality star right after George's not guilty verdict:

(Zimmerman's brother) Robert's ultimate goal was to turn George into a reality-TV star. His models were John Walsh, who began hosting America's Most Wanted after his 6-year-old son was abducted and killed, and the Kardashians, whose fame was launched by Kim's leaked sex tape. "I learn a lot from watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians," Robert told me. "Like, use the shit you've got." One idea was for George to be the focus of a Candid Camera-style program. One episode, for example, might feature a professor teaching a class about self-defense, and at the end of the episode it would be revealed—surprise!—that George was one of the students.

On why an interview with Fox's Sean Hannity fell through:  

First, Fox News expected the brothers to fly to New York. That would require George to show his ID at the airport, possibly to a black person. No way, Robert said. Even worse, the network wanted them to fly on February 26, the second anniversary of the incident. Robert tried explaining to a Hannity producer why that couldn't work: "It is like 9/11 for my family! We can't travel together that day—it's like having the whole royal family travel together!" Robert had a better, safer plan: He wanted Fox News to pay for the brothers, plus a full security detail, to drive the 1,100 miles from central Florida. About halfway, they'd need three hotel rooms—one for Robert, one for George, one for the security team—at a place with room service so that George wouldn't have to be out in public. 

Fox News said no. Rebranding the Zimmermans would have to wait.

On the Zimmerman family's paranoia:  

The hotel-hopping went on for nearly two months, until Bob (Zimmerman's father) found a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom house for rent on Craigslist in a nearby subdivision where most of the homes had been lost to foreclosure. In other words: cheap and very few neighbors. 

There, the family formalized new security protocols. They watched the movie Argo to learn how to live like CIA. Code names for everyone. No mail delivered to the house. No visitors. No talking to the few neighbors they had. No long phone conversations—keep it short and vague to outwit surveillance. Never discuss your whereabouts via phone or text. Keep a weapon close by at all times. Robert slept with his gun. Still does. 

And in case someone—or multiple someones—decided to mount an attack on the house, the Zimmermans pre-packed their own "go-bags" filled with everything they would need to flee in a rush, as well as what they called "footballs"—like the one President Obama has with the nuclear codes—that contained laptops, cell phones, and other essential electronics. 

They also memorized a color-coded threat-ID system. Code blue: Law enforcement at the door. Code brown: Draw your weapons. Code black: Come out guns blazing.

On sticking CNN with a huge hotel bill:

The Zimmermans seized on their brief stint of subsidized luxury. They ran up a big room-service bill, cleaned out the minibars, got their clothes laundered, made several trips to the spa, treated a party of ten to dinner at the hotel restaurant, and bought swag—from bracelets to bath fizzies—at the gift shop. 

Toward the end of their stay, according to Robert, a manager presented him with a bill for $3,600. He says he called CNN, outraged, only to have the producer accuse them of splurging shamelessly on CNN's dime. "You and your brother are evil!" he remembers her screaming. The hotel manager threatened to call the police. Alone in his room, Robert started shaking. He wrapped all the blankets around him, ordered shrimp, chain-smoked cigarettes, got roaring drunk. Nothing helped. He called his mother in a panic. "I can't get warm," he sobbed. "I just can't get warm." 

Unconsoled, Robert called the only person he could think of: Dr. Drew, who'd been kind to him when he went on Drew's TV show shortly before George's trial. He reached a producer, who told him Dr. Drew wasn't available. But the guy was nice, at least. He stayed on the phone awhile and talked Robert down. Eventually CNN agreed to pay the bill, and the next morning Robert returned the only purchases he could: a bottle of Mercedes-Benz cologne and a Ritz-Carlton wallet that George had bought him to say thanks.

Let me assure you that these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Zimmerman family lunacy. 

And keep in mind that THIS is who Fox News defended over and over again during the trial, and who has become a conservative hero since beating his murder charge after gunning down an unarmed teenage boy.

Hey remember that guy in Florida who was only convicted of attempted second degree murder after killing an unarmed teenager for playing his music too loud? Yeah he's going back to court.

Courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat:  

Jury selection is set for today in the second trial of man accused of first-degree murder in the death of a teenager during a 2012 dispute over loud music. 

Jordan Davis, 17, died after Michael Dunn, 47, fired into the SUV in which Davis was a passenger. 

Dunn was previously convicted of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and firing into an occupied vehicle, but jurors deadlocked on the charge of first-degree murder. 

He has yet to be sentenced on the charges he was convicted of during the first trial, but faces up to 60 to 150 years in prison.

Apparently the state was unhappy with the first conviction so they are attempting a do-over. 

The attorney for the family stated that they hope that this time the jury comes back with a first degree murder conviction.

Now don't get me wrong I think this guy deserves to go away for a long, long time, which he will already do anyhow with just the attempted second degree murder conviction, but isn't trying him twice against the law? I do believe that is called Double Jeopardy.

I am no legal eagle but I did see that Ashley Judd movie like four times. 

There IS actually a time when the Stand Your Ground defense does not work in Texas.

Courtesy of Free Thought:  

On Friday, May 9, 2014, just after 5:30am in Killeen, Texas, Marvin Louis Guy was the target of a no knock raid. 

The officers were looking for drugs, yet none were found in the home. There was some questionable paraphernalia, but nothing indicative of drug dealing- or anything damning enough for a reasonable person to feel the need to take an officers life. 

Unfortunately the danger of no-knock raids is real. just ask the parents of baby Bou or the family of Detective Dinwiddie. 

Detective Dinwiddie was one of the SWAT officers who broke into Guy’s house on May 9th, based on a seemingly bogus informant tip off about drugs being dealt from the home. 

Likely alarmed by the men climbing through his windows at 5:30 in the morning, Guy and his wife sought to protect themselves and their property and fired on the intruders- in self defense. 

Dinwiddie, along with three other officers were shot while attempting to breach the windows to the home, according to the department’s press release.

Detective Dindiddie later succumbed to his injuries, and  now prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for capital murder, and three counts of attempted capital murder for firing on officers breaking into his house unannounced in the wee hours of the morning.

As of yet the NRA has not weighed in with support for Guy, nor have there been any 2nd Amendment protests outside the police station demonstrating that they believe this is a miscarriage of justice.

Why you may ask?

 Well this is Marvin Louis Guy. So you tell me.

And before you accuse me of playing the race card you need to know that this guy...

...also killed a police officer unannounced and the charges were dropped against him.

I know, probably just a coincidence right?

Finally a little justice for a victim of gun violence.

Courtesy of the AP:  

A suburban Detroit man who said he fatally shot an unarmed woman on his porch out of fear prompted by early morning pounding on his doors faces up to life in prison after jurors rejected his claim of self-defense. 

Theodore Wafer was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder after a nine-day trial that centered on whether the 55-year-old had a reasonable and honest belief that his safety was in peril.

If you remember the case it was concerning an intoxicated young  black woman who came to Wafer's door looking for help after wrecking her car. However help is not what she received. 

Wafer opened the front door and shot McBride in the face, firing through a screen door while she stood on the other side. He first suggested to police that it was an accident but later admitted to intentionally pulling the trigger.

Apparently in America's gun culture one fires their weapon first, before one ascertains whether or not a threat even exists.

This is a win for the good guys.

Hopefully it might convince a future gun nut to hold his fire and help a fellow human being rather than to splatter their brains all over his front porch.

Thanks to Stand Your Ground law Florida man who shot and killed a one time friend who was unarmed and walking away will not be charged.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

In early July, 20-year-old Colt Thriemer shot dead a one-time friend in a Wal-Mart parking lot, saying he feared for his life. Witnesses gathered for a truck meet that night say victim Thomas James Brown, 21, was walking away toward his car when Thriemer fired ten shots. Some say Brown had threatened to kill Thriemer over the course of several weeks. The story as told by prosecutors in a detailed legal memo suggests drug transactions, addiction, and monetary debts all played a role in the scenario leading up to Brown’s death. 

But these facts will never play out in a trial, because prosecutors have decided not to charge Thriemer citing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. 

“The Stand Your Ground statute makes no exception from the immunity because Brown may have been walking away from Thriemer at the time the deadly force was used,” the memo from the State Attorney’s office states. “The Stand Your Ground law does not require Thriemer to wait until Brown in fact retrieved a gun before he fired. Under the current state of the law and the facts of this case, Thriemer was legally allowed to use deadly force based on a reasonable belief that his life was in danger and that he was about to become the victim of an armed robbery.”

I cannot get over how this law simply allows you to murder somebody simply because you "thought" they might come after you at some point. 

Isn't this the same kind of thinking that got us into the Iraq War?

Look this guy who was shot, Thomas James Brown, sounds like a real POS. And there is a part of me who wants to say that he got what he deserved.

Except that he didn't deserve it.  At least not yet.

IF he were reaching for a gun in his pocket, then maybe.

IF he were actively beating on the defendant with a lead pipe, then maybe.

But he was walking away.

Seriously do you have any idea how many dead bodies I would have sent to the morgue if I killed every person who threatened to kill me or beat my ass? It would be dozens.

People say things in the heat of anger, but unless they are actively attempted to take your life you have NO right to end theirs.

"Only use as much force as absolutely necessary." I learned that as a boy of ten, yet these so-called adults cannot seem to figure it out.

One year ago George Zimmerman thought he got of scott free for murder, today he is jobless, millions in debt, and essentially destitute.

Somehow I doubt he is laughing now.

Courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel:  

George Zimmerman has no job, no home, no income but spends $100 a month on vacations and $200 a month on psychological counseling, according to a financial affidavit he recently filed in his divorce case. 

According to it, he spends $3,304 a month, despite having no income. 

He listed his total assets at $14,000 – most of that is his 2008 Honda pickup. His debts total $2.5 million, most of that is money he owes criminal defense attorneys Mark O'Mara and Don West. 

According to his paperwork, Zimmerman has no job, pays nothing for rent or a mortgage and has no health insurance. 

He spends $350 a month for medical care plus $200 a month for psychological, psychiatric or mental health counseling. 

He also spends $100 a month on vacations, he wrote. 

Zimmerman's legal defense fund, which raised more than $400,000, now has a balance of $300, according to the affidavit. 

It is not clear what happened to any money he earned from the sale of a painting on eBay in December. The winning bid was $100,000. There is no mention of it in his affidavit. 

His banking account has $650, he reported. 

In an interview last month, Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., said the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer is homeless and moves from place to place, sleeping in the homes of friends and supporters.

Gee I guess it really does not pay to kill an innocent teenager. Even if you DO initially get away with it.

By the way is this guy sharing the same accountant as SarahPAC? Nothing seems to add up as to how he supports himself.

South Carolina Senate subcommittee seeks to extend "Stand your Ground" defense to include unborn fetuses. So where does the baby get the gun exactly?

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A Senate subcommittee in South Carolina is seeking to expand the state’s “Stand Your Ground” defense law to include protections for all children, including unborn ones, beginning from the moment of conception. 

Current South Carolina law permits the use of deadly force to protect oneself or others against “imminent peril of death or great bodily injury.” According to Republican State Senators Chip Campsen and Greg Hembree, by that definition the law does not fully apply to pregnant women, since injuries that they face might not put them in “peril of death or great bodily injury,” but could put their fetuses in just such jeopardy. 

Democratic State Senator Brad Hutto shared with The State his concern that any new law would be redundant, as it is already legal for a pregnant woman to respond with deadly force. He asked supporters of the measures — three are currently pending — to provide him with an example in which an unborn child’s life would be threatened when the mother’s isn’t. 

The subcommittee passed a bill it called “The Pregnant Women’s Protection Act,” but abortion-rights activists claim the name of the bill is a misnomer used to disguise the fact that this bill is actually a back-door effort to grant constitutional rights to embryos from the moment of conception.

You know, the only thing that stops a bad fetus with a gun, is a good fetus with a gun.

I swear these idiots will do just about ANYTHING to try and restrict a woman's right to choose.

Texas prosecutor says that it is very unlikely that father who shot daughter's boyfriend will face charges.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

The District Attorney’s Office in Houston, Texas says that no charges will likely be filed against the father who shot his teenage daughter’s boyfriend dead. 

Prosecutor Warren Diepraam told FOX 26 that “[w]hat was going on in the person’s mind at the time of the shooting what they found out after the fact isn’t going to matter a whole bunch. They’re looking at what he was thinking when he made the decision to shoot.” 

The decision to shoot, according to police, was made by the 55-year-old homeowner after his 4-year-old son informed him that there was a strange man in his 16-year-old daughter’s bedroom. It was 2:20 a.m., and the homeowner immediately grabbed his gun and entered his daughter’s bedroom to find her under the covers with an unknown teen. 

He allegedly told the teen not to move, and police say his daughter initially claimed not to know who the teen was. At some point during the discussion, the father perceived the teen to be moving for what could have been a gun and shot him dead. 

The teen was unarmed, and his daughter later confessed that the dead teen was her boyfriend, and that she had snuck him into her bedroom.

When I wrote about this earlier I predicted that the father would likely not face any jail time, though I have to admit I was hoping I would be wrong about that. 

In my opinion this man had every right to threaten that young man with an ass whooping and throw him out on the street, but he did NOT have the right to take his life.

And do you know what? If he had smacked that kid around he probably would be MORE likely to face charges.

That is how screwed up this country has become.

Father catches teenager boy in daughter's bedroom, shoots him dead.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A Texas father shot and killed a teenage boy who he found in his daughter’s bedroom early Thursday morning. 

Harris County deputies said that the 16-year-old daughter snuck the 17-year-old boy into her bedroom. Her younger brother saw the boy, and notified the father. 

When the father asked about the boy, the girl reportedly claimed she did not know him. The man called 911, and then he got into an argument with the boy. 

The father said that he opened fire when the boy suddenly moved his hands. The 17-year-old boy died at the scene. 

According to The Houston Chronicle, the father complained that he was having panic attacks, and was taken to a nearby hospital. Deputies said that the man appeared to be on medication.

You know as a teenage boy I cannot tell you the number of times that I was almost caught after sneaking into a young lady's room. Always invited of course.

To be honest I used to worry about something like this happening, but looking back I seriously doubt that any of those angry fathers would have opened fire on me. Because even though this was during the wild a wooly days of Alaska's past, we were not animals.

Simply killing somebody in a fit of anger certainly happened, but it was usually a domestic dispute between spouses or a drug deal gone bad.

It seems we are becoming less civilized, instead of more civilized.

And you KNOW, since this is Texas, that this guy will more than likely get off and use the Stand Your Ground defense to do so.

Thanks to the Stand your Ground law Florida man who shot his unarmed friend to death will get his guns back. Gotta love a happy ending.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

A Florida man who was granted Stand Your Ground immunity after he claimed he fatally shot his friend in self-defense will get his guns back. Judge John Galluzzo ruled that shooter John Wayne Rogers was entitled to the return of his guns under the law, even though Galluzzo thinks it’s a bad idea. “I have to return property that was taken under the circumstance,” he said, according to a WESH Orlando report. 

“I have researched and haven’t found case law to say otherwise.” Rogers shot 34-year-old James T. DeWitt after a night of drinking at Rogers’ home. DeWitt stayed the night, and the incident occurred the following morning after they returned from an errand to buy more beer. 

Rogers, who is legally blind, said he felt threatened by DeWitt, so he went into his bedroom and retrieved his assault rifle. Rogers said DeWitt charged at him and he shot; DeWitt’s girlfriend says they were “play fighting” when Rogers went into his bedroom to get the gun and then shot at DeWitt without provocation. 

A Florida court granted Rogers immunity from criminal charges under the state’s Stand Your Ground law, which authorizes deadly force without any duty to retreat anywhere a person has a legal right to be. 

So to be clear, according to the witness, this guy was "standing his ground" against a play fight attack launched by his friend. (Well you can imagine his terror.)

And now this individual is going to get his guns back so that he is protected in case anybody assaults him with a pillow during a pillow fight, or anything dangerous and life threatening like that.

I swear it is like the whole country has lost its fucking mind and has no idea what self defense actually means.

In an alternate universe.

Ask yourself honestly, how long do you think it would take a Florida jury to give this guy the death penalty?

Loud music shooter, Michael Dunn, compares himself to a rape victim, and says he was both the "victor" and the "victim."

Courtesy of Think Progress:

 In newly released audio of phone calls made by Michael Dunn while in jail, the man who shot 17-year-old Jordan Davis after a loud music dispute claiming self-defense said he was both the “victor” and the “victim,” compared himself to a rape victim, and made racially charged comments about his fellow inmates. 

Recordings of nine calls from December 2012 released by the State Attorney’s Office Monday follows the earlier release of letters from Dunn disparaging African Americans. In one, he said, “The more time I am exposed to these people, the more prejudiced against them I become.” A jury found Dunn guilty Saturday on several counts of attempted second degree murder for shooting ten rounds into a car full of teens, but the jury was deadlocked on the question of whether Dunn was guilty of first degree murder for shooting and killing Jordan Davis. 

In a call to his fiancée Rhonda Rouer, Dunn said: 

I was the one that was being preyed upon and I fought back. It’s not quite the same but it made me think of like the old TV shows and movies where like how the police used to think when a chick got raped going, “Oh, it’s her fault because of the way she dressed.” I’m like, “So it’s my fault (laughing) because I asked them to turn their music down. I got attacked and I fought back because I didn’t want to be a victim and now I’m in trouble. I refused to be a victim and now I’m incarcerated.” 

Dunn doesn’t explain how he was “attacked.” The shooting occurred after Dunn pulled up in a Jacksonville convenience store next to a sport utility vehicle with several teen boys. Tension erupted after he asked the boys to turn down their music. Dunn says he shot into the vehicle in self-defense because Davis threatened to kill him from within his vehicle and held up a gun, but no gun was found anywhere at the scene. 

“I’m the f*** victim here,” he said, laughing, during one of the phone calls. “I was the one who was victimized … I’m the victor, but I was the victim too.”

So the man shoots into a car full of teenagers, none of whom apparently came out of the car to threaten him in any way, and HE is the victim?

Well gee if he wasn't really in fear for his life what could have been the motivation for shooting at the African American teens in the car?  

During the call with Rouer, he also complained about being in a jail cell by himself, saying, “But I guess it would be better than being in a room with them animals.” He added a short while later, “I was in a room with three black guys,” CBS News reports.

Oh yeah, I think we understand the motivation just fine.

Final image of the night.

When are we going to recognize that preserving human life is more important than preserving our 2nd Amendment rights?

Mistrial declared in case of Florida man who shot teen to death over loud music.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Jurors on Saturday found a white Florida man guilty of three counts of attempted murder and one other charge for the fatal shooting of a black teenager over loud music, but a mistrial was declared on the most-serious charge against the defendant — first-degree murder. 

The jury convicted Michael Dunn, 47, of three counts of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of firing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle, but deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge, prompting the judge in the case to declare a mistrial on that charge. 

Sentencing on the other charges was set for the week of March 24. Dunn still faces 60 years in prison on the lesser counts. He could face a retrial on the first-degree murder case, which could bring a sentence of life in prison if he was convicted. 

Dunn argued he was acting in self-defense when he shot at an SUV 10 times while parked next to four teens at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station in November 2012. 

The shots killed Jordan Davis, 17, of Marietta, Ga.

What in the hell is the problem?

The man killed this unarmed teenager in cold blood for playing his music too loud.

I can tell you right now, with no equivocation, that if the roles had been reversed that Jourdan Davis would be on his way to prison for first degree murder and that the jury would have had no problem finding him guilty.

They should stop calling is "stand your ground" and start calling it what it really is, "a legal excuse to kill black people."

Man stands his ground against Girl Scout. Oh the Founding Fathers would be SO proud!

Courtesy of Riverside Country Sheriff's Department:

On February 2, 2014, officers from the Temecula Police Department responded to the 31000 block of Strawberry Tree Lane, in the city of Temecula in regard to an assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, who is a minor, was going door-to-door selling cookies. When the victim knocked on the suspect’s door, he opened the door and pointed a gun at her. The victim’s father witnessed the incident and called the police. The suspect was identified as John Dodrill, age 59 of Temecula. Officers took him into custody without incident and seized the weapon as evidence.

Yeah you know you can simply say you don't want any cookies and the little girls will just walk away. You don't actually have to chase them off with a gun.

Of course that was before they started demonstrating respect for Wendy Davis and scared these idiots out of their 2nd Amendment loving minds.