The Obama administration is once again mounting a full-scale assault on the Second Amendment rights of Americans, this time taking aim at the “Stand Your Ground” laws on the books in many states.
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, many conservatives feared that the Obama administration was orchestrating a massive gun grab and capitalizing on public outrage in order to do so. But things died down shortly after the universal background check bill failed in the Senate, and gun rights advocates probably breathed a sigh of relief.
Following the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, the Obama administration and its liberal allies are stealthily rebooting the campaign against the Second Amendment by going after “Stand Your Ground” laws.
In his speech in front of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder called for harsher scrutiny of “Stand Your Ground” laws nationwide.
“People who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely,” he said. “By allowing — and perhaps encouraging — violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety.”
Holder was joined by other high-profile individuals — such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and musician Stevie Wonder — in calling for the repeal of the self-protection laws.
The truth of the matter is, however, that Zimmerman and his lawyers didn’t invoke the “Stand Your Ground” law during the trial. Instead, they simply relied on the basic self-defense laws on the books. Admittedly, one of the jurors did off-handedly reference the Florida “Stand Your Ground” law when speaking to CNN‘s Anderson Cooper Monday night.
But the juror also mentioned the “heat of the moment.”
If one is caught in an instant in which they feel their life is being threatened, the gut reaction is to do everything within one’s means to protect oneself, including drawing and firing a gun. American citizens who have the right to bear arms should also have the right to use those arms in an emergency, life-threatening situation. Because what good is a gun that cannot be used for self-protection, for fear that taking that action will result in a mess of criminal charges?
None of us were there that night. We didn’t see what happened, but we do know a life was lost and a family is grieving — and that’s tragic no matter how you look at it.
But no matter what one believes about Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence, the jury made its decision and the legal system did its job. The death of one young man, while deeply sad, does not necessitate the revoking of the self-protection rights of American citizens.
