I haven't read anything or seen the longer video just the first 10 seconds of the clip posted.Even if the jerk was being a jerk legally speaking I dont think you can put your hands on him just call the police.
Stand your ground?
- Thread starter CaptainObvious
- Start date
Was this even stand your ground in your opnion?The guy was pushed to the ground looks up and sees the guy who pushed him and one or two others approaching him.He was on the ground and couldn't retreat when he saw them coming towards him.
Seems some of the snippets I read are wrong in details.
The two men were in a yelling match.
Quite a lot here FWIW.
The cops description is quite different to what I see with my eyes. I'd consider that a gross miss-characterization of McLaughlin's demeanor after the gun is pulled on him.
Im going to check it out.im in the middle of a 4 hour drive and need things to listen to.
After watching I agree with the Sheriff and my original opinion.I wouldn't have chraged him if I were the cops and I wouldn't vote to convict if on a jury.
It is not a perfect world, I disagree with the description of the attack however as the law stands the sheriff was fair. He made the point his personal feeling was that because you can do something does not mean you should.
Regardless, this does not sit well because it seemed the guy was emboldened to start the conflict because he had a gun, he certainly remembered he had it fast enough and I sense it was in his mind, he sought trouble and found it.
McLaughlin played his part and pushed too hard, sometimes things are misadventure.
The problem I have with this is the police are only looking at the law as it exists from the time the assault was made on the shooter and then the 4-5 seconds prior to the shots being fired. Perhaps, and one could probably argue that it is not their job to refer to the shooters state of mind prior to the physical altercation. That state of mind is however very relevant to the case the prosecution may bring. If the shooter was willfully and intentionally looking to instigate altercations that would, IMO, justify bringing charges against the shooter. Tough to prove state of mind in a court, but none the less we the public cannot pretend that isn't relevant.That would also be a clear case demonstrating where this whole stand your ground law can be abused by people who are just looking for a reason to shoot someone. Should the victim have checked himself and not so violently shoved the shooter? Yes. Is it the shooters job to be walking around looking for parking violations and then starting altercations? No it is not. In the Zimmerman case there was at least the argument that Zimmerman was a neighborhood security watchman so it was within his job description to confront people he believed to be breaking some law. This knucklehead just takes it upon himself to be traffic cop and then kills someone over a f'n parking violation. What this says to me is that of you're angry enough to lay hands on someone then you better be ready to go all the way. People will die simply because we still allow weapons to be purchased and owned without putting people through a very extensive and thorough mental health check, and then put them through extensive training on the use of that weapon in situations just like this one. Far too many people out there who own a gun legally who have no f'n business carrying the weapon.
Agree wholeheartedly there.
There is no perfect solution to this but I think it starts with if you want a gun, you have to do serious training.
Owning a gun is level one and should require a background check and waiting period of no less than 14 days. Concealed carry permit is a whole different level which, IMO, should require an extensive mental heath background check, followed by a psychiatric review, followed by several weeks of training by law enforcement, any of whom, at any time during the evaluation/training can deny the permit being requested. All this is at the expense of the person doing the requesting. The cost should be affordable to the average person. The actual function of the weapon is incidental to the situational training. My observation of the general pubic is most do not have the emotional stability to be carrying a weapon at all times and this cuts through all demographics.
If he ran away after pushing me down, i still would have shot him. Think of it as a world favor. I've come across A hole's like this more than once. They deserve to be capped!