Joe Nocera’s column The Gun Report today talks about the trial that is starting for Michael Dunn who shot and killed Jordan Davis in Jacksonville, FL. This case which has received a lot of publicity takes “stand your ground” to a new and lower level. The prosecution represented by Assistant State Attorney John Guy described four teens sitting in their vehicle at a gas station. Dunn asked them to turn their radio down and a verbal argument ensued. According to the prosecution Dunn just opened fire, riddling the car and killing Davis. According to the defense attorney Cory Strolla, Dunn saw a weapon, either a gun or a lead pipe, but no weapon has turned up.
I figure the lead part is conjecture as lead for a material for piping has been obsolete for the better part of a century. If you can’t see clearly enough to tell the difference between a piece of pipe and a gun, how can you know it’s an appropriate time to shoot, anyway? Police reports are quoted as saying Dunn claimed it was either a shotgun barrel or a stick.
We’ll learn more as the trial goes on but the main point I want to make comes from a statement by the defense:
"God didn't make all men equal. Colt did. Colt is a firearm," Strolla said. "(Dunn) had every right under the law to not be a victim, to be judged by 12 rather than carried by six."
I will ignore the sexist language in this case. If we are all to be made equal by guns, which seems to be the goal of the gun lobby and their political allies, then it will be a harsh world indeed. First, there are the many who are not able to use guns to protect themselves because of age, youth, having handicaps, being prohibited from having weapons or by having kids around. There are those who have peaceful natures and are unwilling to be armed, and others who are depressed or fearful of what they might do to themselves. How about people who know that they have a temper and don’t want to risk a moment of thoughtlessness? Many have other uses for their time and resources. They don’t want to expend them in acquiring guns, the equipment to keep them safely and the training necessary. The equal “men” are a minority in our society.
Then, there is the problem expressed in language attributed to Gandhi and expanded in the script for The Fiddler on the Roof as:
FIRST MAN: We should defend ourselves. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
TEVYE: Very good. And that way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.
I am hopeful that in this case, unlike in the case of Treyvon Martin’s killer, justice will be done--even in Florida. We shall see.
