News Is Florida's Stand Your Ground Law a Dangerous Step Backward?

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The discussion centers around Florida's new "stand your ground" law, which allows individuals to use deadly force without first attempting to retreat from a threat. This law, influenced by the National Rifle Association and signed by Governor Jeb Bush, has sparked significant debate regarding its implications for self-defense and potential misuse. Participants express concerns about the law enabling individuals to claim self-defense after lethal encounters, even in ambiguous situations where threats may not be clear. Critics argue that it could lead to unjustifiable killings and undermine the legal system, while supporters believe it empowers individuals to protect themselves in dangerous situations. The conversation also touches on broader themes of crime, self-defense ethics, and the societal impact of gun ownership, with contrasting views on the necessity and morality of using lethal force in defense of oneself or property.
  • #121
Smurf said:
Seriously, does anyone in this thread actually care about any of the real affects this law will have? If someone actually does please let me know I'd love to try and gain some insight if someone will be even slightly intellectual about it.
Yeah. I do.
 
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  • #122
Townsend said:
There is nothing at all wrong with my argument. The fact of the matter is that if you lived in America and someone broke into your house and got a splinter in their hand they could sue the pants off of you.
Reference please. Thanks Townsend.
 
  • #123
pattylou said:
Reference please. Thanks Townsend.

------------> :rolleyes:
 
  • #124
Townsend said:
Whatever you want to call it is fine but it's murder either way.
Exactly self defence is not an excuse for murder.
 
  • #125
Smurf said:
Exactly self defence is not an excuse for murder.

But it can excuse an incidental death caused by one defending their life and in some states, their property.
 
  • #126
deckart said:
------------> :rolleyes:
I have a problem with exaggerations.
 
  • #127
pattylou said:
I have a problem with exaggerations.

exaggerations like "1000x"?
 
  • #128
deckart said:
The right to bear arms is a right our country was founded on. And that will never change.

It's also based on racism and "othering" in general. Can you see a connection between the two? Perhaps if we didn't have an extremely stratified society based on race, sex, and economic class, we wouldn't have to deal with this problem in the first place. If this cycle of oppression were snuffed out, gang violence would probably decrease...cause there wouldn't be so many people born into it. It's like the laws on education - high schools that have higher SAT scores get more funding. Those who are poor (usu with low SAT scores) to begin with get poorer and less able to educate their students while the rich get a better education and consequently richer. How about some social changes first?
 
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  • #129
0TheSwerve0 said:
It's also based on racism and "othering" in general. Can you see a connection between the two? Perhaps if we didn't have an extremely stratified society based on race, sex, and economic class, we wouldn't have to deal with this problem in the first place. If this cycle of oppression were snuffed out, gang violence would probably decrease...cause there wouldn't be so many people born into it. It's like the laws on education - high schools that have higher SAT scores get more funding. Those who are poor (usu with low SAT scores) to begin with get poorer and less able to educate their students while the rich get a better education and consequently richer. How about some social changes first?

Our country is based on racism?

As far as the rest of your rant, I'm not even going to comment. You've completely gone off the subject.

Maybe start another post concerning your "social changes". I'll gladly debate you there.
 
  • #130
deckart said:
exaggerations like "1000x"?
Indeed. Which is why I asked for feedback on that quote, which was not anything I personally ever said.

I have a problem with exaggerations. Thank you for pointing out my consistency between these two different threads.

This is also why I have a problem with posters saying things like (for example) environmentalists claim that we'll need to spend billions to fix the climate problem etc.

It's beyond a gross mirepresentation. It's playing on emotions, and has no basis in fact.
 
  • #131
pattylou said:
Indeed. Which is why I asked for feedback on that quote, which was not anything I personally ever said.

I have a problem with exaggerations. Thank you for pointing out my consistency between these two different threads.

This is also why I have a problem with posters saying things like (for example) environmentalists claim that we'll need to spend billions to fix the climate problem etc.

It's beyond a gross mirepresentation. It's playing on emotions, and has no basis in fact.

just giving you a hard time, patty :-p
 
  • #132
deckart said:
Our country is based on racism?
Remember slavery? Where do you think almost all of the labor in the South came from until the Civil War? Why do you think we needed to amend the Constitution to grant equality to African-Americans? (Hint: Because initially, they were counted as 3/5 of a person. And of course, most of the founding fathers had slaves...)

So yes, to some extent it certainly is.
 
  • #133
Our country "certainly" is not based on slavery. period.
 
  • #134
deckart said:
Our country "certainly" is not based on slavery. period.
Is that the extent of your argument, or are you going to say why? It is, after all, customary for a debate to have two different sides attacking and counterattacking. It's now your turn to counterattack by addressing my points and perhaps even making a few of your own.

I could say "I *certainly* am not composed of atoms. Period." But this doesn't make it true.
 
  • #135
deckart said:
Our country is based on racism?

As far as the rest of your rant, I'm not even going to comment. You've completely gone off the subject.

Maybe start another post concerning your "social changes". I'll gladly debate you there.

It's not a rant, it's an deconstruction of our culture. Manifest destiny mean anything to you? I agree that it is off your own arguments, but that doesn't mean that it isn't an important point. I guess you'd rather debate for the sake of debating instead of acknowledging anything useful. I'm not interested in debating you.
 
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  • #136
deckart said:
Our country "certainly" is not based on slavery. period.

It may not be based on slavery, but it is structured around Western dualism with some neato excuses for why white males should be allowed to control everyone else they deem "inferior." Which in turn led to slavery...
 
  • #137
pattylou said:
Reference please. Thanks Townsend.

BURGLAR SUES HOMEOWNER

Terrence Dickson of Bristol, PA finished burglarizing a house and left through the garage. The door to the house locked behind him and the automatic door opener in the garage wasn’t working so he was stuck. The family was on vacation and Dickson was trapped in the garage for 8 days. He lived on dog food and Pepsi (and you thought it wasn’t good for you!). When he got out, he sued the homeowner for mental anguish. A jury awarded him $500,000.

http://www.wellsinsagency.com/articles/do_it_yourself.htm

Should trespassers and burglars be able to sue if they're hurt while
committing a crime?

We look at the decision handed down in Sydney last week where a drunken teenager who entered onto private property and was beaten up by the occupant was awarded $50,000 in damages.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/lawrpt/stories/s664402.htm

Fearon, 33, hopes to sue Martin for a reported £15,000 following his wounding during a break-in at the farmer's home in Emneth Hungate, Norfolk, in August 1999.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/2987642.stm

Traditional distinctions based upon a person's status on your property have given way to a general obligation to all persons entering upon your property. Under this trend, you may be responsible for personal injuries sustained by anyone who is on your property, regardless of status. Thus, some states even will hold you responsible for personal injuries suffered by trespassers who come on your property. It could be possible in some states for you to be held responsible for the personal injury suffered by a burglar who comes on your property.

http://injury.freeadvice.com/injury_help.php/144_10_366.htm

Are you happy? Finding links is such a waste of time...
 
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  • #138
Smurf said:
Exactly self defence is not an excuse for murder.

Unless the offending person is about to beat your brains out with a baseball bat. It depends on the situation. If faced by someone whom you are convinced is going to kill you, you might be surprised at what you would do to save your own life or the life of a loved one.

If you see or hear an intruder in your home and it is obvious that you can make it out of the door and run for help, definitely do that.

If some one has a weapon and demands the keys to your car, give him the keys, the car is covered by insurance.

On the other hand if you are awaked in the middle of the night by a stranger standing over you with a weapon in his hand, there are only two options.
Beg for mercy, or fight for your life.
 
  • #139
I don't think that most people can even begin to comprehend what it is like to have to kill someone, whether it is in self defence or in combat. Yet many drive recklessly on the highways which can cause death in an instant.

Do you people think that you have a fairy god mother who is going to protect you?

Not to freighten anyone, but the latest tactic used by burglers to defeat your alarm system is to cut your phone line on the outside of the house. The alarm still sounds when it is triggered, but unless you have an expensive system that uses a cell phone, the alarm company is not called. When the bad guys enter the house they rip the squealing alarm off of the wall and stuff it inside of your refrigerator and close the door.

I could also describe the home invasion tactics that the meth freaks are statrting to use but you might not be able to sleep for a week.
 
  • #140
Townsend said:
http://www.wellsinsagency.com/articles/do_it_yourself.htm



http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/lawrpt/stories/s664402.htm



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/2987642.stm



http://injury.freeadvice.com/injury_help.php/144_10_366.htm

Are you happy? Finding links is such a waste of time...
Thank you Townsend.

No, I'm not happy, for two reasons. I realize I'm being a pain, but I'm sticking to my guns.

First, anyone of those situations is more damaging than getting a splinter. You were exaggerating. If it is OK to be able to *shoot someone in public,* in self defense, then an argument to be able to do so should not need to rely on exaggeration. (I'm sorry for singling you out, nothing personal.)

Second, yes, it is unreal that the guy in pennsylvania won his case... What the hell kind of garage door opener doesn't have a latch to turn it off and open the door manually? In fact, the story was so bizarre I went to snopes. Turns out it never happened.

http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

The second story is from Australia, the third from England, the fourth from a injury attroneys website, presumably trying to drum up business. IOW, there's nothing in those four sources that indicate the need for more lax gun laws.
 
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  • #141
Ok, I'm getting a little confuse as to where people stand here. Who here is against a citizen using deadly force to defend their life?
 
  • #142
deckart said:
Ok, I'm getting a little confuse as to where people stand here. Who here is against a citizen using deadly force to defend their life?

I’m definitely in favor of shooting the other guy… or bashing his head in with a bat… kicking, stabbing, maiming, scalding; any and all methods are OK by me.

When my kids were young, even the hint of a threat to their well being would justify (in my mind) a violent attack on the perpetrator. I have absolutely no qualms about defending my family by any means legal or not, consequences or not. If I were a resident of Florida, the new law would be irrelevant to me.

I don’t own a gun, never have, but I have used them. I will buy the first of many guns when a law is passed denying my right to own one.

Non US citizens should be aware that the constitutional right to bear arms, the primary reason, is not to defend against foreign invasion, not to defend ones family, not to secure food…all those are considered natural rights; the primary reason was to allow the citizen to defend himself against his own government, the US government. Tyranny starts at home and today is nourished by Lenin’s “useful idiot” the liberal churl who seem to find great pleasure in posting nonsense in these forums. The insatiable liberal feeding frenzy goes on and on and on...


.
 
  • #143
Non US citizens should be aware that the constitutional right to bear arms, the primary reason, is not to defend against foreign invasion, not to defend ones family, not to secure food…all those are considered natural rights; the primary reason was to allow the citizen to defend himself against his own government, the US government. Tyranny starts at home and today is nourished by Lenin’s “useful idiot” the liberal churl who seem to find great pleasure in posting nonsense in these forums. The insatiable liberal feeding frenzy goes on and on and on...

Thanks for the heads up... :-p

What a place the USA must be if you feel the need to "rise up" against a democratically elected goverment..
 
  • #144
Anttech said:
Thanks for the heads up... :-p

What a place the USA must be if you feel the need to "rise up" against a democratically elected goverment..


Are you responding to me or to the loonies who claim the election was illegal?

The feeding frenzy goes on and on and on...

.
 
  • #145
Are you responding to me or to the loonies who claim the election was illegal?

You actually... :-)


Democracy and violence can ill go together. Gandi
 
  • #146
oh, brother. :rolleyes: It's bad enough when you have to debate with someone from your own country.
 
  • #147
oh, brother. It's bad enough when you have to debate with someone from your own country.

Nobody forced you to post.
 
  • #148
Smurf said:
The right to kill is not a civil liberty and its rather disgusting that so many people think they deserve it. It's also scary, but security is hardly the main opposition.

More after class...

Read the posts in context, Smurf. My reference to civil liberties vs. security was regarding the Rampart scandal, not any gun laws, nor even any killings.
 
  • #149
pattylou said:
I have a problem with exaggerations.

More news from LA that you don't pay attention to, I guess. I'm not going to look it up, but a burglar a few years back successfully sued a women when he cut himself badly breaking into her house through a window. It was about as infamous for a brief time as the woman who sued McDonald's because her coffee was hot.
 
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  • #150
back successfully a women

Successfully 'whated' a woman.. sued?
 

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