What is your opinion about Florida's
 

...self defense law and the "stand your ground law". Some states have similar laws. Some states demand that if retreat is possible one must retreat before one may use force let alone deadly force...unless deadly force is being used against you from the start.

It is good to protect crime victims HOWEVER any professional will tell you that you should try to escape first.

Every bullet comes with a lawyer and pulling the trigger should be the last possible resort.

hope I never have personal first hand experience with the law myself

i don't know what "professional" you're talking about, but i don't agree. stand your ground refers to NOT becoming a victim. people get targeted by looking weak and putting themselves in bad situations. now, georgie boy zimmerman using this as his defense is bullshit, so please don't think i'm an advocate for shooting anyone.

I carry a professional strength pepper spray from Fox Labs, I buy it on Amazon and I love it. I have one for my car and one for my bag. I bought it for my sisters too.
Cops carry it, Dog the bounty hunter and his crew have it, Operation Repo crew have it.

I often work at night and always feel a little creeped out.
One time a weird guy approached me in the parking lot, he said "hey, hey! I want to ask you a question" and I just kept walking and had the pepper spray in my pocket, i felt much better.

if you shoot someone even to protect yourself then its a big legal mess, if you pepper spray someone then they are back to normal in 25 minutes.

If you can extract yourself from the situation that is always your best option. There is no sense taking someone's life if you can avoid it, but just as important if you start shooting with a firearm you might hurt yourself or allow the other person to get that firearm from you - making the situation much worse.

Always best to leave the situation if possible.

gang members are using it for drug turf. if you pull a gun they can kill you and not go to jail.

It should continue to cover situations where you are on your own property and where the other person has no right to be there (such as a carjacker, burglar, or home invasion)

It should have a much higher burden of proof for those invoking it in public places and there should be an exception for where you placed yourself in the situation or helped escalate it. In that case something like manslaughter is appropriate. (bar fights, acting like a police officer)

For instance in the Zimmerman case he should have to prove that he did not try to escalate the situation at any time in addition to having to prove that he felt his life was in danger. If it's found that he did escalate the situation then manslaughter is appropriate.

another zimmerman thread? :Oh crap

Yes. This happened here before in Florida.

http://myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=91000

But Zimmerman isn't using a stand your ground defense.

It's just a very good example of how it's fucked up. But see my other reply.

he could not use it :1orglaugh you cant follow someone claiming self defense after they jump on you :2 cents:

I'm simply pointing this out to someone else. Jump on them, dogg.

no need my .45 is always near by :winkwink: bang bang

Well...in Florida if you actually physically assault a person (start a fight) and you end uo on the losing end of the fight and at some point you become in fear for your life or in fear of great bodily harm...you can employ the use of deadly force. That is the law.

You have never been trained as a LEO nor have you every consulted with a lawyer about this. They are the professionals. Any good self defense coach will teach you this as well.

Feel like dealing with the physiological aftermath, huge legal bills, publicity and post shooting time suck? Feel free to stand your ground. Shooting at the bad guy does not stop you from being a victim.

..and yes. I carry where legal and have both lethal and nonlethal weapons in my homes.

Spray someone with pepper spray and you will get sued.

Shoot someone with just cause under the stand your ground law and you are in the clear

This is true. I used to carry pepper spray and a pair of knives along with my CCW so that I would have multiple alternatives to using deadly force and was advised to only carry the gun.

It's not illegal to follow someone around in your neighborhood, especially if you are the citizen patrol. (Even though zimmerman was an idiot and did so after the police dispatch said not to and to wait for police.)
The other guy (TV) should have waited for the police or just kept walking away from GZ. OR RUN AWAY.

It is illegal to jump on someone, punch or kick ass on someone who is not attacking you, or committing a crime upon you. (A person can follow you around in walmart telling you your mammy sucks big red dog dicks and you can't hit them legally)

You cannot legally beat up a person for following you or watching you.
You should call the police on them as a stalker.

Just for point of reference, I am a white guy. I don't personally give a flying fuck about the racial issues of this trial. (I'm not insensitive about racial issues in general and I understand some folks have been fucked over) I am for 100% equality.

The government is not supposed to see race, creed, color etc...... They shouldn't even be allowed to ask the question of race on any forms in the united states. It's illegal.
Race needs to be left out of government.

Crazy but true, I was told the same thing. At the time I had a carry permit.

I wouldn't just spray someone with it unless they were about to harm me. I would think if a stranger was being aggressive to me and I just hold it up to his face ready to spray at them and telling them "you wanna go blind?" would be enough for them to back off.
But if they kept going well then I'd rather be sued then hauled to jail.

and besides, if im some random guy on the street and they never seen me before, and decide to fuck with me, how would they find me later to sue me? How would a street loser be able to hire a lawyer?