Looking at it from the standpoint of a person in a state with very similar (some, in fact, based upon) laws to Florida’s, who also has a CHL and carries a gun daily:
My personal interest in this case isn’t because of the race angle, which I believe was perpetuated by activists and the media. In other words, had Zimmerman and Martin been of the same race–with the exact same sequence of events and evidence–none of us would have ever heard their names. But whatever. Here we are.
When I took my initial CHL class, one of the things that was drilled into us was that if you ever are involved in a self-defense shooting, you will have to account for every round fired; every action you’ve ever taken will be looked at (which is why our instructor trashed our shooting scores–there’s no record of how good a shot I am, since an attorney could ultimately say “you scored 50/50 in your CHL class…why didn’t you just shoot the guy in the shoulder?”) We must assume that we will be arrested and prosecuted, regardless of what the law says.
Knowing all of that–each individual must then decide “is it still worth it to carry a gun and use it in self defense?” For me, the answer is yes. The reason: Zimmerman is alive to face the jury. Had he not had his gun, or had he not used it, he might not be alive today. My life is more important to me than anyone else’s.
Not everyone in this country feels that way. I have at least one friend who has decided to never take a life, even if that means she will lose her own. That’s her right.
Zimmerman, when he walks, will probably never follow another person, suspicious or not, in his life. And he has to live with taking a life; maybe he’ll never lose sleep over it, or maybe it will torture his soul until the day he dies. We’ll never know.
But here’s the thing: how many participants in this discussion have ever sat through a CHL class? Even if, like stoid, you abhor guns–just go audit the classroom portion to see exactly what a person like Zimmerman learns. You’re instructed in your state’s laws, starting at when it is legal to even use the threat of force, all the way through using force (i.e. using your hands or feet, restraining someone) up to and including deadly force. We take a written test on these laws.
Another big part of the class is focused on not the law, but common sense and judgment (which is were Zimmerman failed bigtime by getting out of his truck.) We’re trained that, regardless of legal/illegal, the absolute best thing one can do in a situation is to de-escalate it and get the hell away. You may not, as in Florida and Texas, have a legal duty to retreat–but good judgment always says you should.
Tangent example: in Texas, it is codified in our law that it is legal to kill a person who is committing theft after dark. No assault, no fear of death or serious injury. Tonight, if I look out my window and see a person going through my car, it is legal for me to stick my rifle out the window, take my time with the scope, and shoot that person until he’s dead.
That’s legal. Our DA might put it before the grand jury, but according to the law, they’d have to no-bill me.
Now: even though some might think I’m one of those gun nut badass wannabes because I always carry a pistol and am prepared to use it (and yes, I always carry a round in the chamber and my pistol has no safety) I can say with 100% certainty that I would never confront or shoot a person going through my car after dark.
Why? Because even though I have the legal right to do so, I’d have to live with taking a life. And for what? My car? Maybe a couple of bucks? My radio/speakers? To a man, that’s not worth killing someone over–to me.
Zimmerman, like Martin, was stupid and showed extremely poor judgment in letting the situation devolve to the point it did at the T in the sidewalk. Letting it get to that point, especially when he’s the adult, has been educated about the legal ramifications of self defense, etc., makes Zimmerman an embarrassment to people like me, because it makes people, like some in this very thread, assume that all of us are as ignorant as Zimmerman.
However, even though we all know he was stupid and should have stayed in his truck and driven away, when it comes down to a test case for self-defense–he MUST be found not guilty. Stupidity isn’t illegal.
At the end of the day, Zimmerman had every legal right to be standing at the T in the sidewalk. Martin had every legal right to walk up to him. What happens after that is in dispute, but there is no denying the fact that the state cannot prove that Zimmerman didn’t shoot Martin in self-defense, which is why he’ll walk. I just hope that other people who carry guns see this and really take to heart the mistakes Zimmerman made. And I hope that kids look at what Martin did (as in trying to act tough) and see that it cost him his life.