The death almost a month ago of 17-year old Trayvon Martin at the hands of appointed neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman has become a cause célèbre that has even drawn the notice of our President, who notes that if he had a son he would probably look like Trayvon.  I’m seeing some defending Zimmerman, and most demanding his head on a platter, and a whole lot of people who don’t understand how the justice system is geared to approach these things.

As I’ve said earlier in this blog, in answer to reader query, we don’t know enough about what happened to rush to judgment yet, whether that judgment is justified self-defense, murder, or manslaughter.  The police have made it clear that there is evidence that has not yet been made public, and may not be put forth until the Grand Jury examines the case next month.  Some issues:

The autopsy results, including toxicology screen, have not yet been released. If it turns out that the young man who died was fueled by drugs known to cause violent behavior, could that change our perceptions? That knowledge is not yet in our hands. (Reportedly, Zimmerman was not tested, and police indicate that he showed no signs of drug or alcohol impairment.) My advice to YOU if YOU’RE ever involved in a shooting: request to be taken to a hospital to have a blood sample and toxicology screen taken. A “negative for everything” result will prevent false allegations later that you were drunk or drugged-up when you pulled the trigger.

The death weapon was a Kel-Tec PF9 semiautomatic 9mm pistol. It has been reported that the gun was recovered with a full magazine and that only the chambered round had been fired. This is a condition we associate with something preventing the gun from cycling a fresh round from the magazine into the chamber after the shot was discharged. One thing that can cause that is another man’s hand wrapped around the pistol, retarding its slide mechanism.  This would indicate, as could certain gunshot residue patterns or cuts in certain places if found on Trayvon Martin’s hand(s), that a struggle for a gun was taking place when the fatal shot was fired. This would clearly change the shape of the case. But – WE DON’T KNOW YET.

Both men, according to initial reports, were “squeaky clean” in terms of their background. We now know, meh, not so much.  There were allegations of domestic abuse against Zimmerman, and a conviction for resisting arrest, in his past. Young Mr. Martin was in the complex in the first place so his dad could straighten him out after being kicked out of school for a week…for what, we don’t know.

          Pundits who don’t all seem to understand the concept are tying this shooting in to Florida’s Stand Your Ground law much more than they should. There is conflicting evidence/testimony as to whether Martin approached Zimmerman or vice versa in the penultimate moments before the physical fight that led to the fatal shot.  There is, in short, not yet enough information for any of us outside the investigation to formulate a solid opinion.

Update: Turns out that the Trayvon Martin Facebook page mentioned here last night was the wrong Trayvon Martin; that has been deleted with my apologies, and thanks to those who flagged me to the error.  Also, HuffPost reports that Trayvon had been suspended for chronic truancy, but another source notes that his school’s posted rules do not prescribe that length of suspension for that minor an offense. Meanwhile, the college George Zimmerman had been attending has suspended HIM, due to the current controversy.

My advice? Let’s all “stand our ground,” not participate in the rush to judgment, and wait for the facts and the evidence to become available to us 300 million jurors in the Court of Public Opinion.

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On December 30, 2011, we discussed here the case of the female medical student from Tennessee who was arrested for illegal possession of a handgun in New York City, and was looking at a mandatory three years or more, plus a felony conviction that would have destroyed her career and her life.  Of course, in many big cities in more enlightened parts of our country, her Tennessee carry permit would have rendered her perfectly legal.  Read about it Here.

This leaves at least one defendant with an out of state permit, who has turned down a similar plea offer, facing charges for much the same thing.

I haven’t heard if Mayor Bloomberg has recanted his outrageous public accusation that this young woman had cocaine in her purse when arrested after declaring her firearm, or rendered a much-deserved apology. The substance in question turned out to be powdered aspirin.

A reminder to all who read this, who go about lawfully armed, and travel: the best, most up to date guide to state-by-state gun laws is handgunlaw.us.

And, another reminder: a bill that would force any state where carry permits are issued to recognize permits issued by other jurisdictions has already passed the House and is now in the Senate.  I believe it has the best chance of passing that any such legislation has ever had, or is likely to have in the immediate future.  For goodness sake, contact  your Senator and ask him or her to support it.  It was discussed in my last blog entry, immediately below this one.

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Sure an’ begorrah, laddies and colleens, I’m wishin’ ya a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, with the wind at yer back an’ all o’ that.  Be sure that ye wear green, and verdigris on your bullets doesn’t count.

It’s also time to be talking with your representatives on Capitol Hill urging them to support National Concealed Carry Reciprocity, which is coming up for a vote.  Now, that O’Bama fella not only isn’t really Irish, he also is quite likely in his next term to go for the hard core “gun control” agenda he always supported before he got elected.  The general consensus in the gun community is that he has laid off gun owners in his first term because he doesn’t want to antagonize us before the coming elections this November, but that once he’s reelected, his gloves and his mask will both come off.  He has reportedly told the anti-gunners that he’s working on their agenda under the radar.

INFO ON THE BILL IS HERE:  http://www.nraila.org/legislation/federal-legislation/2012/national-right-to-carry-reciprocity-act-of-2012-introduced-in-us-senate.aspx

I would kind of like this bill to get to the President’s desk to be signed while he is still reluctant to antagonize millions of honest, one-issue voters.  There are some on our own side who feel that national reciprocity smacks too much of Federalism, and some who hint that it’s a dark Democrat conspiracy to steal our guns.  Nobody has a better handle on the matter than the National Rifle Association and their Institute for Legislative Action, both of which are pushing strongly for national reciprocity.

The bill as written is not perfect, but nobody gets “perfect.”  It will allow a helluva lot more good, law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families in public, in a helluva lot more places than the practice is allowed now.

The good Saint Patrick was said to have driven the snakes out of Ireland.  National concealed carry won’t drive all the human snakes out of the United States, but it will give more good people the option to protect themselves, one snake at a time.  It will save lives, and it will give peace of mind.

I’d be interested in all y’all’s take on this. I for one am solidly for it

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Hope all y’all had a great Valentine’s Day.

Started the morning with true romantic spirit, sleeping in and watching “Zombie Apocalypse,” the Ving Rhames one, which turned out to be every bit as unintentionally funny as I’d been told.

High points for hilarity were a tie between the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a shopping cart, and the zombie tigers.  The latter were kinda matted & ratty, as would befit their undead status, and the Ray Harryhausen-ish movements were about what you’d expect from a critter trying to “walk off” a pretty good case of rigor mortis.

Well, my valentine and I are both Calvin & Hobbes fans, and all we could think was, “Hobbes Twenty Years Later.” “Sooo, Calvin, you thought you could just abandon me at that dump when you went off to college, eh…?”

The live critters of our holiday were more fun, bearing in mind that we’d celebrated Valentine’s Day as a couple the weekend before, at a Glock match ably run by the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol Club in Orlando.  After an absence of prehistoric wildlife, the range pond now appears to have two resident alligators, one of which kept a wary just-above-the-surface eye on the loud doings a short distance away.  My valentine is a self-described “shooter chick,” and we were far from the only couple in attendance.  Nothin’ says redneck romance like volleys of gunfire.  A recovering big city denizen, my sweetie is in her element on the range, and loves living where she can carry.

We finished up the 14^th at Starbucks, dropping two-dollar bills (to commemorate Starbucks’ refusal to knuckle under to anti-Second Amendment advocates boycott, see post here of January 28, 2012).  Thanks to all who did the same.  The barista who served us told us we certainly weren’t the only ones there for The Cause, and our collective presence was appreciated. (Tried their new Blonde Roast, a light, crisp blend for an afternoon cup.)

Guns, ‘gators, and zombie tigers…seemed like a righteous redneck Valentine’s Day to me.Also helped me to understand why I’m the firearms editor at Backwoods Home, and not the romance editor…

“O my Valentine, my love for you is as undying as, uh, this zombie tiger from ‘Zombie Apocalypse,’…”

Photo by Lara Solanki – © Syfy

It ain’t a REAL  redneck Valentine shootin’  match if ya ain’t got a pond ‘gator watching the range balefully… 

Shooter-chick celebrates Valentine’s Day by strafing down six plates right to left with a Glock 30 loaded with .45 hardball.  Notice spent casing from last shot just behind pistol’s slide, muzzle still on target as middle plate is hit. Strong women are the most interesting…

A $2 bill, symbolizing “2A support,” goes into the tip jar at the nearest Starbucks.

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The dominoes keep falling.  Virginia has dropped its “one gun a month” law, as seen here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/handgun-ban-lifted-in-virginia/2012/02/03/gIQAfHYNuQ_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

Back when they passed it, one of my graduates in Virginia called me to share his misery. He asked, “Mas, how would YOU feel if they passed a ‘one-gun-a-month’ law in the free state where YOU live?!?”

I replied, “Hell, I’d find the money somehow…”

He was not amused.

I don’t blame him. He was right and I was wrong. Arbitrary restrictions on productive members of society are nothing to joke about.

I don’t care how many firearms responsible, law abiding citizens own.  I care that evil people don’t have access to them.  And, more important, I care that evil people be put away where they don’t have access to INNOCENT VICTIMS…and that their potential victims have the wherewithal to fight back against the evil, and prevail.

This good news from The Old Dominion is the latest in a compelling history of victories for gun owners’ civil rights over recent years.  At the time they enacted “one gun a month” in Virginia, there were several states where there was no provision at law for a law-abiding citizen to carry a concealed handgun in public to protect themselves and their loved ones. Now, in 2012, just one of those remains: Illinois, which came surprisingly close to getting shall-issue concealed carry last year, and hasn’t given up yet.

We’re winning, state by state, but we can’t become complacent. The Presidential election looms…and it ain’t lookin’ good for gun owners.

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