(GunReports.com) — In a Washington Times column on April 2, Second Amendment legal scholar David Kopel examined how anti-gun lobbies are purposely misstating how Florida’s “stand your ground” works.
Kopel, an adjunct professor of advanced constitutional law at Denver University and research director of the Independence Institute, wrote in the Times column, “Whatever happened on the night that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, we know one thing for sure: The gun prohibition lobbies and their compliant media friends have been deceiving the public about Florida’s laws. Among the many deceits is the claim that Florida’s “stand your ground” law affects the legality of whatever Mr. Zimmerman did.”
Kopel continued, “The assertion that Florida law allows shooting whenever someone believes it to be necessary is a flat-out lie. The actual law of Florida is that ‘a person is justified in the use of deadly force’ if ‘(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony’ (Florida Statutes, Section 776.012).”
The second part of the law provides special provisions for self-defense against violent home invaders or carjackers. Neither of those is relevant to the Zimmerman case, Kopel wrote.
Kopel said, “If the factual claims of Trayvon’s supporters are true, Mr. Zimmerman criminally attacked Trayvon and killed him, while having no reasonable belief that Trayvon was perpetrating a forcible felony, or imminently about to kill or gravely wound Mr. Zimmerman. So Florida’s self-defense laws simply would not apply, since Mr. Zimmerman would have no right under Florida law to use deadly force.”
Read more at the Washington Times, and then come back here to discuss.
