Some gun owners need to realize that warning shots are fine for the movies, but they cause problems in real life.
Marissa Alexander had hoped the warning shot would scare her allegedly abusive husband. The two were in the middle of a heated argument when she picked up the gun and fired the fateful shot. She claimed Stand Your Ground, but a judge rejected that plea at her trial.
Instead of legal immunity, the Jacksonville defendant drew a felony conviction and a mandatory 20-year sentence thanks to another controversial Florida gun law — 10-20-Life. It seemed like a harsh penalty for a woman many believed was only trying to protect herself from domestic violence.
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/editorials/fl-editorial-warning-shot-dl-20131203,0,1486589.story
True, and maybe if she had shot her husband, the Judge would have understand.
The conviction drew national outrage and two dubious bills filed in the Florida Legislature that exempts individuals who fire warning shots from criminal and civil liability. HB 89 and SB 448 fall short as a fix. The solution isn’t a new legal exemption as much as ending mandatory sentencing.
Aren’t liberals something else? You make law-abiding gun owners go through hell but then you get all sentimental about criminals. Yes, Marina acted like a criminal, maybe we can fix the law but get rid of mandatory minimums? No way. Those minimums are there to prevent bleeding-heart judges from giving ridiculous sentences like 30-days in prison or home arrest. The law also ensures that some of the scum get put away for a long time.
HB 89 may provide a legal exemption to a 10-20-Life conviction. But, the legislation complicates Stand Your Ground, a state law already riddled with legal ambiguity, by encouraging confrontation and the escalation of gun violence. Who, for example, gets Stand Your Ground protection when it comes to defending one’s self against a warning shot?
That’s four the cops, the DC, and the courts to decide if it comes to that. It’s just like self-defense, if you shoot in self-defense maybe there will be a trial, maybe charges won’t be brought. With Zimmerman there wasn’t supposed to be a trial, but then the sheriff got fired and Sanford decided looking good on social media was more important than justice.
Florida already has a law that gives victims the right to use deadly force as protection. There’s no need for a new law that further encourages people to use a firearm to resolves disputes.
Typical liberal. I don’t know anyone who’s dying to shoot someone in self-defense, or fire a warning shot. It’s not like people are going to move to Florida and start looking for opportunities to test the new law.
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