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Letter: Forrest Gump Act

For the Monitor

Monday, January 28, 2013

I received a call recently from a friend in Franklin who told me about how the Democrats want to repeal the Stand Your Ground law.

When I first moved here, I read a newspaper story about a policeman who was shot by a man he had stopped for a traffic violation – who was then shot himself by a passerby who picked up the policeman’s gun. Stand Your Ground protects everyone.

I asked my friend what this had to do with the Newtown, Conn., shooting. He said nothing; the attorney general and state police want it because of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.

Really? The Democrats want to change the law that protects everyone from violent crime because of an incident in a state 1,400 miles from here that had no witnesses? The person charged in the case hasn’t even gone to trial.

So much for innocent until proven guilty. They should name the legislation the Forrest Gump Act. If you see someone getting car jacked, raped or robbed at gunpoint, all you will be able to do is yell “Run, Forrest, run.”

JAMES EDGAR

Meredith

RabbitNH wrote:
29/01/2013

I actually thought nashua-mike that the old law had a duty to retreat clause in it. That is the issue I think for many. In that split second when you are faced with an intruder say, do you take the time to decide if your life is in danger, or do you take the time to think about, if I shoot this intruder, will a savy lawyer for the intruder's family sue me because they deem my life was not in danger. That is how I see it. I think that incident where the guy had a gun when a woman walked on his property proved how murky it can get when folks decide if you should have retreated instead of you deciding.
nashua-mike wrote:
29/01/2013

You have shake your head on how some rural folks are frightened of their shadow. Yep, let's be frightened to death of a lone woman who is just coming on to your property just to ask for directions (the Ward Bird incident). Wow, when I live in the big city, with real crime (not imaginary crime), if a person were that afraid that person would not have been able to do the simplest things in life, like get a quart of milk at the grocery store. People, you have to stop thinking that every minor unknown is a threat to your safety, especially when you live in one of the safest nations in the country. But, I guess that what happens when you are prone to turn your neighbors into the "other" due to that person's skin color, religious beliefs or even political affiliation. And if you need an example of this type of paranoia, two words - Trayvon Martin.
Hunter_Dan wrote:
29/01/2013

On the other hand . . . when you live across our southern border in the Commonwealth, you are sure to need a gun to protect yourself not only from human attackers but also from bobcats and coyotes, thanks to the idiots who banned trapping there years ago. And the lack of early successional habitat('cause loggin's "bad") that provides a place for the prey species that bobcats and coyotes love to eat.

nashua-mike wrote:
28/01/2013

It seems to me the mythic Forrest Gump has a lot more common sense than the folks who are one the edge of hysteria. Before "stand your ground" nothing prevented a person from defending oneself. It seems to me the reason that many of the folks who want "stand your ground" to stay the law is that we have far too many in our society with an anger management problem who wanting any excuse for "payback" on those "other" folks. Right now have too many excuses for the unhinged and paranoid for making life miserable for the rest of us and we don't need another excuse, like "stand your ground" to add to our collective misery. Need an example of what I am talking about in two words? ....Trayvon Martin

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