Florida's Shoot 'em Dead First Law

[aka]

Well, speak about having Homeland Security right in your own hands like good ole wild west days of America...

Shoot First Law

Attention: testy visitors risk being shot in Florida

MIAMI (AFP) - Welcome to Florida, but avoid arguments or thanks to a new law you run the risk of getting shot, according to an ad campaign launched by a gun-control group.

The campaign coincides with a state law that enters into effect authorizing gun owners to shoot anyone in a public area who they believe threaten their safety.

The law, supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA), was approved by the state legislature in April. Governor Jeb Bush described it as a "good, common sense, anti-crime issue" when he signed it into law. His is a brother of US President George W. Bush.

Supporters call it the "Stand Your Ground" law, while opponents call it the "Shoot First" law.

Under the previous law gun owners had first to attempt to withdraw and avoid a confrontation, and were authorized to shoot the threatening individual inside their home or property.

Critics say the current law allows gun owners to shoot if they engage in a simple argument. Supporters say that criminals will think twice when they try to attack someone in public.

Before the law was "on the side of the criminal," said Marion Hammer, head of Unified Sportsmen of Florida and a former NRA president. "The new law is on the side of the law-abiding victim," Hammer said.

Enter the Washington DC-based Brady Campaign to Control Gun Violence. The group will run ads in US and British newspapers warning tourists planning to visit Florida that a "nervous and frightened" Florida resident could shoot to kill. "Warning: Florida residents can use deadly force," the ad states.

"If you are involved in a traffic accident or near-miss, remain in your car and keep your hands in plain sight. If someone appears to be angry with you, maintain to the best of your ability a positive attitude, and do not shout or make threatening gestures," the ad reads.

The Brady Campaign promises to also run ads in French, German and Japanese newspapers if they can stretch their budget. They also plan to hand out fliers and post signs on the Florida highways with the warnings.

"It is reasonable to make people know that while they're visiting Florida they should take the right precautions to avoid potentially being victims of violence," Brady Campaign spokesman Peter Hamm told AFP.

The group is named after Jim Brady, spokesman for president Ronald Reagan. Brady received a gunshot that paralyzed him when a mentally disturbed man shot Reagan in 1981.

Florida tourist authorities are hardly amused by the campaign.

"The Brady Campaign is one group's political agenda and not a safety and education issue," fumed Bud Nocera, executive director of Visit Florida, the state's tourism office, who described it as a "scare tactic" campaign.

"It is sad that such an organization would hold the 900,000 men and women who work in the Florida tourism industry, and whose lives depend on it, hostage, to their political agenda," he added.

Nocera said the campaign would have no impact on the millions of tourists that visit Florida, numbering 80 million in 2004.

"I can't understand why anybody would be opposed to telling visitors what the law is," said Hamm. "No state in America has ever passed a law like this one."

The Brady Campaign is "not telling anybody that they shouldn't visit Florida. My family and I vacation in Florida every Easter and were intending to do so. But I'm going to make sure that none of the people in my family get into a loud argument while we are there," he said.

[cricket]

Quote:

---

Before the law was "on the side of the criminal," said Marion Hammer, head of Unified Sportsmen of Florida and a former NRA president. "The new law is on the side of the law-abiding victim," Hammer said.

---

Lay-evangelist knocks on the door to do "survey" of religious beliefs.

Criminally minded resident thinks to himself, "I don't want to deal with this guy more than once. Where's my gun?"

Criminally minded man lets lay-evangelist into his home.

Lay-evangelist sits down on the sofa and reaches for his Bible.

Criminally minded man shoots the lay-evangelist. Later says, "He was reaching for his gun! Well, I thought it was a gun. I was only protecting myself and my family."

[Dr. Shane]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

The Brady Campaign promises to also run ads in French, German and Japanese newspapers if they can stretch their budget.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

The Attorney General of Florida should file a suit against The Brady Campaign and make them spend every cent in their budget defending against a liable suit. Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill. All this law does is extend the rights law-abiding citizens had on their own property to public property as well.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

His is a brother of US President George W. Bush.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

What does this have to do with the story? Obviously the reporter is trying to make some type of guilt by association. George W. Bush is some kind of wicked, mean, paranoid conservative and this is the brother of Adolf Hilter!!! Oh no!!! This law has to be bad. Adolf Hilter's brother passed it.

Good grief... give me a break. And this from the Associated Press. Who doesn't believe their is a liberal bias in the mainstream press?

[Dr. Shane]

This law didn't change anything regarding lay-evangelists that knock on anyone's door. Citizens had the right to defend their property before, under the old law, just as they do in Texas. This law just extended those rights to public property.

[Robert]

He who lives by the gun dies by the gun.

[cricket]

Shane,

I know. I was just trying to make a point about the quote. Changing the laws won't stop victims from being victims still; it won't stop criminals from acting criminally. I do think, however, that it will change some criminals' actions. When they are tempted to shoot they now have an "easy out" when it comes to defending themselves in a court of law; there will be more shooting than ever before.

Chrys

[Dr. Shane]

The law is to protect the law-abiding citizen in protecting himself. It is not to protect the criminal committing a crime.

A couple of years ago a guy robbed a local pawn shop with a gun. After the owner had given the criminal the money and the criminal turned to leave the pawn shop, the owner pulled out his gun and killed him. When the police arrived the criminal had his gun and the pawn shop owener his gun. The pawn shop owner was not arrected and no charges were brought against him.

[ChildofChrist]

Quote:

---

The law is to protect the law-abiding citizen in protecting himself. It is not to protect the criminal committing a crime.

---

While I lived in FL, a man that lived in the Orlando area was getting tired of being robbed at night. He rigged up two or three of the suspected entry points that did not include the front door. A couple weeks went by and when the man unlocked his door one morning, he saw that one of his traps was set off. He called the police and they searched and found one dead wannabe robber. Guess who went to jail for electrocion? Yep, the merchant. The fact the man attempted to enter the business after hours by illegal means through the roof didn't weigh much with Orlando Metro's finest.

[jasd]

QR window:

Speaking of controversial matters:

American insanity

Posted: September 28, 2005

1:00 a.m. Eastern

“…

In March 2003, Casey Nethercott caught two illegal aliens sneaking onto his 70-acre Texas ranch, which he used his life savings of $120,000 to buy earlier that year. Edwin Alfredo Mancia Gonzales and Fatima del Socorro Leiva Medina had trekked through Mexico from El Salvador when they stumbled on to Nethercott's ranch.

Though the pair admitted Nethercott's ranch hands provided them with cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour, the illegal invaders enlisted the legal help of Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center to represent them in a suit charging they were abused by Nethercott.

Because Nethercott was in possession of a gun illegally, he got five years at the hands of Texas prosecutors.

And since he was in jail and unable to defend himself against Dees' civil lawsuit, Nethercott's ranch was seized and handed over to the illegal aliens.

Two illegals who should have been deported are now living comfortably in the land of the free and home of the brave – the recipients of visas available to immigrants who are victims of crimes and cooperate with authorities. They are living on a ranch they stole, with the complicity of the government. An American is in jail, and illegals who trespassed on his property have taken ownership of his home.

It's incomprehensible. It's mind-boggling. It's a sign of the time.

Americans once looked out for Americans. Our governments – local, state and federal – were designed to protect our rights and our safety. Our laws were made for the benefit of the people, not to victimize and entrap them.

No longer.

I can't help but think the emerging pattern of government abuse against the people is purposeful and by design.

We are being told, in no uncertain terms, that we the people are no longer in control of our destiny. We are now subjects – our "rights" merely privileges extended by the government and revocable at the slightest whim.

Think about it.

Nethercott was defending his property from invasion. The government long ago abdicated its responsibility to defend our national borders – leaving us all to fend for ourselves from higher crime rates, terrorist threats, higher taxes and a thousand other problems related to illegal immigration. Now he's in jail and his property in the hands of those who trespassed.

It's a metaphor for the insanity that is gripping America.

Our most basic rights have been lost.

Justice has been perverted. Truth has been obscured. Morality has been turned upside down.

Maybe you think this just happens to other people?

If it can happen to homeowners in New London, Conn., it can happen to you. If it can happen to ranchers out West who discover "protected" critters on their property, it can happen to you. If it can happen to Casey Nethercott, it can happen to you.” --Joseph Farah

Well, never having been one to sympathize with one or t’other who’ll actively seek to undermine the Constitutional guarantees of fellow citizens because of having experienced a personal tragedy, --admit to a personal distaste for SBrady, Grousers, et Whiners. Per the referenced MDees’ Southern Poverty Law Center in the above article, it’s simply Brady South, another gun issue group milking the left of center over Second Amendment concerns -- for personal benefit.

Perhaps Floridians are mindful of ‘the Luby’s cafeteria massacre’ in Killeen, Tx and the woman who failed to save her father and mother because her handgun was unavailable -- left outside in the car.

An unemployed merchant seaman killed 23 people and wounded 20 in what might be considered a public area -- Luby’s cafeteria.

[cricket]

Quote:

---

The law is to protect the law-abiding citizen in protecting himself. It is not to protect the criminal committing a crime.

---

Shane,

You're right. The law is meant to protect the law-abiding citizen. When I speak of the criminally minded, I'm not speaking of the ones of which society is already aware: I'm speaking of the criminally-minded individuals who now will have an "easy out". That is to say, they will plead with the juries and the judges that they "thought" the man/woman was going to hurt them and they were just "defending" themselves.

I think you're missing my point.

Chrys