Florida sets the standard when it comes to making it easy to shoot people. If you feel threatened, even if you’re the one precipitating the the conflict, your chances of getting charged with a crime are very slim, especially if you’re white.
For the record I’m white and a CCP holder and still think our state laws are absolutely insane. Nobody should be able to antagonize someone, shoot them and then claim self defense. Sadly that’s how Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law is being interpreted.
Until we can bring back sanity to our legislative process, the laws are what they are. The reality is there are an unfortunate number of angry people down here with a concealed carry permit and a chip on their shoulder. Their anger has been fueled by a steady stream of right wing propaganda blaming other people for their problems. They’re mad, they’re armed and, at least temporarily, they have the law on their side.
On the flip side I have personally witnessed three incidents that lead me to question the sanity of the people involved. One was in a retirement village where I was doing interviews about seniors and insurance when a car sped by and the lady next to me yelled “Slow down!” at the driver who was clearly going faster than the park’s 15 mph speed limit. The driver, an African American woman, jammed on the brakes, got out of her car and started berating the woman who yelled at her with a cascade of f-bombs. They were inches from coming to blows when I stepped in and announced I was calling 911.
Another incident I was in the turn lane of a big intersection when the light changed and the car in front of me didn’t move. The car behind me laid on their horn and the passenger in the car that wasn’t moving got out of his vehicle and started yelling at me, waving a briefcase in broad daylight in the middle of a busy intersection. Again, the gentleman doing the yelling was African American. We live in a largely minority neighborhood, so the race of the individuals involved was probably more coincidence. I don't think he was yelling at me because I was white.
Still another incident I was on my motorcycle when a young woman whipped around a truck in the next lane, probably not seeing me next to the truck. She laid on the horn passing as if I had done something wrong. By unfortunate coincidence we ended up next to each other at the light and this young African American woman rolled down her window and yelled, “You almost got hit, didn’t you?!” I didn’t say anything back, not that my visceral, lizard brain didn’t feel like pulling her through the open window and beating the stupid out of her. I didn’t say anything because I was in shock that anyone would go out of their way to taunt a complete stranger in such a confrontational manner.
Now imagine, in any one of those incidents, that the person involved was someone like Michael Dunn. Any of those could have turned into a deadly force incident or escalated into an exchange of gunfire that added to the sad casualty count of Stand Your Ground. In all of those incidents the chances of the shooter being charged with a crime under the current laws would be almost zero.
Forget race for a second, even though I do believe that’s a factor, let’s talk about sanity. How smart is it to go out of your way to threaten, intimidate and antagonize complete strangers? Do the people involved all have a right to say their piece? Certainly. It’s a free country, right? Is it smart? That’s up to you to decide.
I’m not trying to blame the victim here, only to recognize that if these are the incidents I witnessed, then incidents like those are being repeated by other people hundreds of times a day all across the state. Most of them don’t amount to anything, just stressed out humanity venting frustration. That’s all it is until the day it’s the next Michael Dunn or George Zimmerman.
I’m not suggesting you should be deferential or a doormat and you don’t have to walk around in fear. Merely be aware that you’re in a state where millions of poorly trained people have carry permits. Even if only a fraction of a percent are extremist nutcases looking for an excuse to involve themselves in an altercation, that adds up to hundreds of people who will kill you if you get out of your car and confront them, throw popcorn or pick a fight over something stupid.
Just be smart, it’s not worth it. Walk away, drive away, move to another seat; no one will think less of you. There are no winners in a train wreck and you’re not going to fix anyone with your car horn or by yelling at them. Let it go.
