New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for the nationwide reform or repeal of Stand Your Ground laws today at an event in Washington D.C. to announce the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign.
The campaign is intended to prevent killings like that of17-year-old Trayvon Martin and Bloomberg blamed the National Rifle Association for the Florida law that many feel empowered George Zimmerman to shoot the unarmed Martin.
“In reality the NRA’s leaders weren’t interested in public safety. They were interested in promoting a culture where people take the law into their own hands and face no consequences for it. Let’s call that by its real name, vigilantism,” he said. “The NRA should be ashamed of themselves. This has nothing to do with gun owners rights. It has nothing to do with the second amendment.”
Bloomberg, who was joined by civil rights leaders and Florida State Sen. Chris Smith, said the laws had undermined the justice system and have done harm to public safety.
“They justify civilian gunplay and invite vigilante justice and retribution with disastrous results,” he said.
ABC News reached out to the NRA for comment, but it has yet to respond.
Two dozen states have enacted laws similar to the one in Florida, and while the laws very from state to state most grant varying degrees of immunity to anyone who uses deadly force in self defense.
Bloomberg cited statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to show an increase in justifiable homicides after the Stand Your Ground laws went into effect.
In Florida, he said, justifiable homicides increased from 12 per year to 36 per year when the five years before and after the passage of the law were compared.
Bloomberg was also joined by former Army Major Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets.org. Soltz said that U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan had a higher standard of when to use deadly force than Americans who lived in states with Stand Your Ground laws.
“There is no shoot first law for our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. We cannot just shoot somebody because they have a hijab on in Iraq and kill them and say we’re scared. Everybody in Iraq has a weapon and all U.S. forces are always scared,” Soltz said. “This is a legal protection in these states that is actually afforded to Mr. Zimmerman that is not afforded to our troops in combat. Unless I’m wrong I didn’t think Florida was a war zone.”
V needs to start visiting these guys in their homes.
see how long that ‘dont’ stand your ground’ BS lasts.
How Mayor Garden Gnome figures allowing ones self to be robbed,raped or murdered is in the interests of public safety eludes me. The truth is that submitting to these abuses freely only increases to risk to public safety. The blatant disregard for the safety of the individual shown by Mayor GG proves once again how so little a “man” can be so huge an @$$H0LE.
“Bloomberg … said the laws had undermined the justice system and have done harm to public safety.”
This, unfortunately is becoming a mantra for the new ruling class; anything they don’t like “harms public safety”. It’s a great line because the public can’t ever be safe. We’re all absolutely guaranteed to die of something and none of us want to do it soon. It’s a perfect sales pitch.
We’ll just ignore the fact that more people die in auto accidents by orders of magnitude than die or are seriously injured due to the use firearms, either justified or unjustified. Does Mr. Bloomberg call for banning automobiles? Well, he hasn’t yet but I’m pretty sure its on his agenda. Look for statistics on the safety of public transportation vs. private operation at a theater near you.
Taken to its logical extreme, the State’s only course of action is to wrap each individual up in bubble pack, toss him in a steel re-enforced coffin and feed him through a tube. It’s the only way to keep him safe.
I don’t know the particulars of Mr. Martin’s death, but if he was killed unjustly then his killer should be punished. We have laws for that.
What we don’t do is prosecute people before they commit a crime, or prosecute people who have successfully prevented a crime from being committed through the application of force. Unfortunately that is exactly what Mr. Bloomberg wants to do, along with the folks who faked up a reason to invade Iraq and the people who think its ok to just pull you over and breathalize you because you might be drunk.
It’s just wrong. And it doesn’t work.
The mainstream media isn’t going to play up the number of people killed by FDA approved drugs or by the government regulated medical cartel. It makes those killed using automobiles look small. We will hear about the automobile deaths at the right times because that allows further implementation of control. But deaths due what the government already “keeps us safe” from? Never. Because those deaths are a product of the government regulation and the protection of insider business interests.
Actually, in my home FOB of Boston (Joking, sort of), the Metro paper reported today that licenses are now recommended for self-driving cars.
“Licesnes recommend[sic] for self-driving cars”
P7
“Auto safety regulators outlined plans toanalyze the safety risks and benefits of self-driving cars over the next four years. The National highway Traffic Safety Administration urged states to bar operations of autonomous cars for purposes other than testing.
But if states allow commercial use of these vehicles, drivers should undergo additional training and obtain special licenses, the agency said.” -Reuters, reproduced without permission, in full.
(Metro isn’t known for in-depth reporting.)
So – let’s recap: Self-driving (ie, autonomous) cars shouldn’t be allowed on the roads. BUT, IF they are allowed, the “driver” (who is the driver if it’s self driving?) should undergo EXTRA training and obtain a SPECIAL (IE more expensive) license.
So, now, to sit in a car will require a license?
there truly is NO HOPE for this country. Revolution is the BEST we can hope for, and massive population reduction. 😛 (We should force-sterilize the politicians along the way. ESPECIALLY the unelected ones.)
Compared to Bloomberg, the ethics of Rudy Giuliani are those of a charmingly deluded maggot spewing double talk and lies in service of the City Parasites as they turn your private property into their revenue mound and petty bureaucratic hive.
Bloomberg is a whole new dimension of arrogant national municipal pestilence.
The ethics of Michael Bloomberg slither and ooze from every pixel of this video. Behold the talcum-powdered face of a ruinous worldwide plague.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URzlGkxMO90&feature=player_detailpage
“Everybody in Iraq has a weapon and all U.S. (invasion) forces are always scared,” Soltz said.”
“Everybody in Texas has a weapon and all are much more civilized to each other,” Eric Said.
Or better:
“Everybody in Iowa has a weapon and all Chinese (invasion) forces are always scared,” Soltz said.
And, once again, I’ll give up my gun when Bloomberg gives up his security detail. Actually, scratch that. I’m keeping my gun either way.
The PTB want to disarm America in the style of Great Britain so badly they can taste it. They know if the socio-economic SHTF before they’ve reigned in private firearms ownership, then it will not be a controlled collapse. It could conceivably end up in the worst possible condition as for transnational thieves; decentralized. Many states are already more populous and prosperous than many countries are so dissolution of the…Soviet Union…I mean United States is a very real possibility when the bill finally comes due. Just like the federalists didn’t want to let go of their southern “cash cows” prior to the war of federal aggression, a similar outcome now is unthinkable in business- as-usual “politics” (“poly” meaning many and “ticks” blood sucking parasites) for the same reasons. Decentralization would mean no more (or very little) of the states’ labor and products going to the do-nothing fat cats inside the beltway and their fascist / monopolist owners.
The only way the ruling elite can be sure they will prevail against us is if their privileged class of LEO’s can run roughshod over the rest of us without fear of meaningful reprisal. I once read, while looking into expatriation, that there are South American countries that do allow their citizens to own some types of guns. But the two types they are wont to ban are military calibers and high power (i.e. long range) rifles. Now why would that be? Think Carlos Hathcock here: a sniper can accomplish major political changes in mere milliseconds. That ever present threat is what makes the “long rifle” our final check and balance in this system of government. This is why it is essential that we stop any inroads that further infringe our right to keep and bear arms. Whether it be erosion of “Stand Your Ground” or “The Castle Doctrine”, registration and licensing, bureaucratic regulatory overreach or just some officious prick with a small man complex wagging his tongue in front of the cameras, it is up to every one of us to vehemently defend and jealously guard this right. It is the last remaining vestige of the real Liberty (some of) the framers envisioned for us.
I never advocate aggression or initiating violence; I’m a porcupine. Leave me alone and let me pursue my livelihood in peace and we’ll get along just fine. Poke, prod or attempt to make a meal out of me and one may come away with more than a few bristles in their nose and paw pads. If we intend to survive this socio-economic winter we’re fast headed into, we’ll be much better able to do so without letting the PTB pluck out all our quills before they sic their dogs of war on us. The PTB are as much aware of this fact as we all should be. Baron Bloomberg and his trusty cadre of well fed paramilitary goon-squad officials stand ready to burn the NRA to the ground at the first opportunity. Take down the perimeter wall the NRA provides and we will be completely wide open to be plundered and enslaved. If you think it’s bad now, you ain’t seen nothing if they take our weapons.
Now you may not agree with everything the NRA does. I’m a life member and I don’t agree with some of their political positions, usually because they’re too compromising (“shall not be infringed” seems pretty clear to me). But they have been our strongest bastion in preserving “the right” for many generations, because of the number of people organized on one front for this single issue. If you are a gun owner and you value your rights, it would behoove you to join and support them. If you’re “too libertarian” (i.e. insufficiently pragmatic) then join and support Gun Owners of America or Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. But whatever you do, get on board now to defend our right to keep and bear arms.
The Trayvon Martin shooting is just the latest major political lever for more restrictions on “the right” since “Fast and Furious” blew up in their face. Make no mistake; the other side has never given up the fight. Just like termites the anti-gun crowd works night and day to find any avenue to disarm us. If we end up with either Obamaney or Orommna in November, “reasonable gun control measures” are already in the works I assure you. If we don’t fight back right now with as much of our time, money and effort as we can spare, we may very well watch our weapons go off to the crushers just like the Australians did.
But, Boothe, they’ve been trying for a long time, and they haven’t succeeded yet.
And the more people are awakened, the tougher that particular agenda is going to be.
That’s absolutely right on both counts Gail. But part of the reason we haven’t already been whipped is that there are enough of us that take “the right” so seriously that we fight passionately to keep it; we regularly put our money where our mouths are. Nothing pisses me off worse than some young redneck with a Sturm Ruger eagle tattooed on his arm that tells me “Naw, I quit the NRA cuz’ they sent me too many letters askin’ fer money.” I invariably point out to people like this that the reason he is still able to go out “huntin’ an’ shootin” is because guys like me pay for the lobbyists and lawyers to keep up the fight. Or more pointedly, I’m carrying their deadwood butts when I write letters, make phone calls and pony up the bucks.
When we start slipping there’s a very good chance we’ll end up like Great Britain and Australia. Look up Rebecca Peters and IANSA; these people are deadly serious about disarming America. Right now Princess Hillary is doing her level best to get the U.S. sign on to a UN small arms treaty to make an end run around the Second Amendment. The most dangerous thing we can do is think “Well hell, they’ve been trying to round up th’ guns here since Lexington and Concord and they ain’t got it done yet. Why worry?” Major inroads have already been made. Listen to the Lew Rockwell podcast with Mr. X. to learn what happens to a concealed carry permit holder in a casual conversation when someone asks you what you’d do about crime if the cops aren’t around and you open your coat and show them the weapon. A lot of what’s been done to curtail the right has been so insidious that we scarcely realize how much we’ve already lost.
CCW permits are backdoor registration Gail. Do you honestly think that if a SHTF situation occurs and our illustrious government sends “contractors” (i.e. Blackwater now Xe) around to do “well being checks” like they did after Katrina, that they won’t peruse the CCW lists. It would be in the interest of “officer safety” of course. You don’t think CCW holders would get “special treatment”? Every gun shop that closes or FFL holder that folds up is required by federal law to send their records in to the ATF. Knowing how honorable the Fedgov is, I’m suuuure they aren’t entering all that information into a relational database. And whether it’s your CCW information or Form 4473’s gleaned from closed gun shops, if you’re associated with one weapon and confiscation starts they’ll tear your home up looking for the rest.
You have to admit that there is still a tremendous anti-gun bias in the main stream media. There’s been a lot of abuse of decent people by the ATF (a taxing authority actually) already. Just the Branch Davidian massacre alone shows you what these people are capable of. Do you honestly think they’ve improved since we’ve implemented the “Homeland Security” state? The point of my original post was that the Trayvon Martin case is the spearhead of the next assault on “the right.” Now is the time to point this out to anyone around us that will listen. We either maintain our eternal vigilance or we may very well end up like the Jews of Nazi Germany or the kulaks in the Soviet Union; disarmed, enslaved and prematurely dead.
There is a valid criticism of the NRA, and that is they seem too willing to compromise much of the time. Compromise is just incrementalism.
BrentP, I couldn’t agree more. They’ve compromised altogether too much which is why I’m also a life member of Gun Owners of America and support the SAF as well. Larry Pratt is a lot less compromising. I’ve challenged NRA lawyers on why they don’t take a direct constitutional approach and it was explained to me that’s not how the system works. But what the NRA does have is 4 million members, a lot of political clout and the contempt of the anti-gun crowd. I find it rather telling that there are approximately 100 million gun owners in this nation, but only 4 million NRA members. This is probably the same percentage of the general public that would stand up and fight for liberty if the absolutely had to. It’spathetic.
I’m a member of Virginia Citizens Defense League – and a former NRA member.
1. Love the analogy to a porcupine. Difference between a Procupine and D.C.? In DC, the pricks are on the INSIDE… 😉
2. NRA is a big shill – they’ll compromise away the LETTER of the law, forget even the spirit, until we’re allowed to own a “sporting gun” that fires only “liquid stream” of the “non-explosive”, “Pressure-driven”, “non-projectile” type, which “must be painted or colored in bright coloration, to avoid accidental death due to officer mistaking said toy for a real gun.”
We’ll be allowed water pistols, until the safety nannys get wind of it, and they’ll scream we could shoot our eye out.
If you’re out in public, minding you’re own business and not out to harm anyone, you have every right to be there. the mugger does not.
Why should the Honest & Peaceable have to retreat when they have the right to be there and the criminal does not?
This guy is one of the reasons I don’t consider myself a Republican anymore, even though I absolutely believe in the idea of a Republic.
We could take a lesson from liberals here: Liberals will defend to the death anyone who’s valuable to the cause, while conservatives routinely throw each other and themselves under the bus in displays of “principle.”
Bloomberg is one of those guys who’s rich, protected and entitled. Everyone else, isn’t. And ought to just accept his Company Town rules… or else.