Oh Florida!

That state of Florida is in the news again and once again it's for a violent act which brings the stand your ground law to the front pages of the news...

It's Tampa ,Florida where Chad Ousley, 43, was shot and killed yesterday while on a mid-afternoon movie date with his wife Nicole. Ousley was killed by Curtis Reeves, 71, a retired police officer who apparently verbally confronted Ousley for texting during the previews prior to the movie, after which a war of words led to popcorn being thrown between the two men and regrettably, culminated with Reeves pulling out a. 380 weapon and firing a single shot that went through Nicole Ousley’s hand and struck Chad in the chest, killing him almost instantly.

Yes, you heard me right, a husband and father of a 3 year old daughter is dead now because some angry asshole was pissed that he was texting prior to the start of the movie. I can't read minds, but I’m willing to wager that Curtis Reeves, now charged with second degree murder, will assert that he was in fear of the younger Ousley and merely was “standing his ground” by shooting into his torso. Isn't that what certain people always say to justify killing somebody?

The nation if not the world has certainly watched as Florida has become ground zero in determining the effectiveness of such laws first when Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed by George Zimmerman, who initially and up to eight weeks before his trial last summer asserted that he, indeed, stood his ground, and later Jordan Davis, 17, who was shot after Michael Dunn took issue with loud music that was being played in a vehicle in which Davis was a passenger.

 Both Trayvon Martin’s and Jordan Davis’ shootings drew much media attention, but during George Zimmerman’s trial last summer, one of the underlying themes proffered by Stand Your Ground supporters was that Trayvon Martin was a thug and that George Zimmerman may have been justified in the killing once he was losing the physical confrontation and feared, according to his lawyers as he did not testify, for his life.

I wonder what these same supporters will say now that a more mature husband and father has been shot over another’s subjective fear of being endangered? This, coupled with the fact that many of the individuals who have received the benefits of Stand Your Ground laws in Florida have been young gang bangers, continues to cause me to question the wisdom of our “law and order” GOP dominated legislature on this issue.

It causes me concern over a lot of things...but then,that's just me!