Last Thursday, in Clearwater, Florida, a guy pulls up to a convenience store with his family. He parks in a handicapped spot and, with the engine running, goes into the store with his 5-year-old to buy some snacks. Mom stays in the car with two younger children. While he's in the store, a guy with a conceal-and-carry permit walks up to the idling car and begins arguing with the woman about the parking spot--where's your handicap sticker, etc. The fellow comes out of the store and, seeing his partner in an argument with a stranger over the parking spot, walks up to the man and shoves him. The guy falls to the ground, pulls out his gun, and, as the unarmed convenience store shopper backs away from him, shoots him once in the chest, killing him. (The sequence of events was captured by a surveillance camera and is shown in the news report embedded above.)
Since Florida is a "stand-your-ground" state, there apparently has been no crime committed. The local sheriff will not charge the shooter, and experts believe the state attorney won't, either. The shooter was "standing his ground." So, to recap:
Guy goes out in public with his loaded handgun in his pants and initiates a dispute over a trivial matter. When the dispute escalates into a physical confrontation, he shoots in the chest an unarmed man who is clearly backing away from him when the shot is fired. A shooter, a victim, a corpse, but no crime.
Stand your ground? More like a license to kill.
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