Florida advances controversy "warning shot" bill

[Mayor Gravity]

thoughts?

[Keltoi Samurai]

The problem with firing a warning shot is that you still just discharged a live fecking round, and that round doesn't stop being live, and the discharged bullet or shot doesn't stop being lethal, just because you fired it at nothing in particular.

Any firing of a warning shot is an act of reckless endangerment, and such an act shouldn't be protected by law. Firing at an attacker is bad enough, but at least you're aiming at the person that's trying to do you harm, rather than firing a round that can travel up to a mile away and strike someone completely uninvolved.

The displaying part makes sense, but if you have to discharge a firearm, then you need to be aware of your target, and what's behind it, and if you're in a situation that cannot be diffused by displaying of a weapon, then the situation is extreme enough to warrant lethal force in defense.

[JamesWN]

Yeah... no. If you need to fire, then just shoot the b*****d.

[2sarahgate]

i get the gist of it from the title alone, but it's still better if you paste the whole article here along with the link. ._. domokun stargate

[uryu ishida]

Pretty sure just posting a link isn't cool with a good discussion.



As for the actual topic at hand. The idea of a required warning shot is patently ridiculous. Professional instructors, tactical experts and damn near every single legal guidance personnel (be it a lawyer or not) talk of just how stupid an idea a warning shot is. You are responsible for EVERY SINGLE ******** ROUND that comes out of that barrel. Bullets can ricochet or frag when fired into the ground. Firing into the air ALREADY injure people every year. What the ******** is someone supposed to do? Keep a clearing barrel handy everywhere!? The only rounds that will leave my gun will enter into my target. I will identify my target, what is beyond it, and what it around it. That is the most responsible thing to do. NOT fire off rounds willy-nilly to try and intimidate.

[Valiant Corvus]

And Florida continues to encourage people to shoot at each other.

News at 11.

[Hasuki Aatisuto]

2sarahgate

i get the gist of it from the title alone, but it's still better if you paste the whole article here along with the link. ._. domokun stargate

Quote:

Florida Advances Controversial 'Warning Shot' Bill
The Huffington Post | By Shadee Ashtari
Posted: 01/09/2014 2:34 pm EST

Florida state Sen. Greg Evers’ (R-Baker) controversial new “warning shot” bill unanimously passed the Senate Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday, advancing legislation that would allow individuals to display a weapon or discharge a warning shot if they feel their life, home or property are being threatened.

"It's whatever force is needed for a person to protect themselves, and however they need to protect themselves is what the bill's about," Evers, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, told 10News.

SB488 was inspired by the case of Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman who received a 20-year prison sentence for aggravated assault after firing a warning shot during a dispute with her estranged husband in 2012.

“I think this bill speaks loudly to the state attorneys, to the State Attorney Association that this Legislature will not put up with [sentencing] folks who are using their lawful right to display a gun, or are firing a warning shot,” Evers said, according to WFSU.

Evers’ Senate bill, along with similar legislation drafted in the House, would grant Floridians the same protections offered under the state’s “stand your ground” law, safeguarding citizens from Florida sentencing laws, which mandate a minimum 10-year prison term for certain felony convictions involving the use of a firearm or weapon.

"On stand your ground, you physically have to shoot someone or use physical force against that person," Evers told 10News. "Why should you have to go to that extreme?"

State attorney Bill Cervone of the 8th Judicial Circuit expressed concern about changing Florida's self-defense laws, and a potential “miscarriage of justice.”

“Collectively, I think we are greatly concerned about scenarios where there could be a miscarriage of justice,” Cervone told the Florida Times-Union. “We’re more concerned about guilty people who hide behind [‘stand your ground’]. The defense bar has equal concerns about the other side of the coin.”

Instead of expanding state gun laws, Florida state Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) proposed giving greater discretion to state judges, according to the Associated Press.

Rep. Neil Combee (R-Polk City), who is sponsoring the House version of the bill, proposed a similar bill in 2013, which was killed in committee without the support of the Florida Sheriffs Association and state prosecutors.

There you go.

[gin and puff 2]

This law will, of course, only apply to whites, because Florida is so ******** racist.

Source: I live here, *****.

[Chibi Halo]

And I can so see it now if this goes through, "I fired a warning shot honestly I did. Is it my fault I'm not a very good shot and I accidentally hit the guy." Someone will lie and use that as a way to get out of injuring a person they think is trespassing on their property.

[Omnileech]

So if you fire a warning shot and hit someone accidentally you're protected? If you fire a warning shot at hit in the person you're trying to intimidate then that's protected under SYG? The more I hear about Florida, the more terrified I am of it.

[Lulamoon Sage]

gin and puff 2

This law will, of course, only apply to whites, because Florida is so ******** racist.

Source: I live here, *****.

It's the South. Of course there's racism involved. What d'you expect, especially when we've still got Voldemort working incognito at the head of our state government?

[Lulamoon Sage]

Chibi Halo

And I can so see it now if this goes through, "I fired a warning shot honestly I did. Is it my fault I'm not a very good shot and I accidentally hit the guy." Someone will lie and use that as a way to get out of injuring a person they think is trespassing on their property.

It's pretty much already legal to shoot somebody who trespasses on your property here. It's also possible to be sued by a burglar who injures him or herself breaking into your house.

[gin and puff 2]

Lulamoon Sage

gin and puff 2

This law will, of course, only apply to whites, because Florida is so ******** racist.

Source: I live here, *****.

It's the South. Of course there's racism involved. What d'you expect, especially when we've still got Voldemort working incognito at the head of our state government?

LOOOOOOL OHGOD

[Lulamoon Sage]

gin and puff 2

LOOOOOOL OHGOD

You mean you didn't know? The likeness is uncanny!

[gin and puff 2]

Lulamoon Sage

gin and puff 2

LOOOOOOL OHGOD

You mean you didn't know? The likeness is uncanny!

I would've thought of it sooner but the news people had me stuck on Skeletor.