It was nice while it lasted. For a few days we thought a jot of sanity might have infected a small town in Florida.
October 30th: The Florida city where neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin is changing the rules on how civilian patrols can operate to help prevent a recurrence and revive the program's reputation.
The new rules, to be released at a community meeting on Nov. 5 in Sanford, Florida, will state explicitly that residents acting under the authority of neighborhood watch may not carry a firearm or pursue someone they deem suspicious.
But that was then.
This is now.
Police in the Florida city where George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin have backed off a plan to explicitly ban neighborhood watch volunteers from carrying guns while on duty...
But now the police department has backtracked on those rules, saying that while it recommends that neighborhood watch volunteers not carry weapons, it won't formally prevent volunteers from doing so...
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith refused repeated requests to explain the reversal.
"That was the choice of the chief. That was my decision," Smith said. "What my thought is unimportant."
I do believe he got that correct. What he thought or why he thought it is entirely unimportant. The only thought that matters here is likely that of the NRA.
Oh, and what happens if another victim like Trayvon Martin is gunned down?
...block captains will be required to sign a waiver saying the city will relinquish liability if they decide to carry a weapon.
That'll stop 'em.