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Originally Posted by Honus
One thing I have learned from this discussion is that the duty to retreat is not nearly as universal as I thought. I still think it's the best rule, but stand-your-ground is not quite the radical change than I thought it was. I would be interested in seeing the history of the self-defense rule to see how often over the centuries the law has imposed a duty to retreat.
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Quite I rational response and I appreciate that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honus
If he chooses to arm himself, then a gun seems like a good choice. Zimmerman's gun only became a problem when he chose to go off hunting the suspect. He should have reported the suspect and waited for law enforcement to do its job.
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Now I dialed 911 a long time ago
Don't you see how late they're reactin'
They only come and they come when they wanna
So get the morgue embalm the goner
They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway
Quote:
Originally Posted by Honus
So, unless I advocate that neighborhood watchmen should arm themselves and then go hunting for suspects in the neighborhood, then I am not being real? Well, I hate to break it to you, but I have a lot of company out here in fantasy land. I have yet to meet anyone who thinks Zimmerman acted appropriately, though it seems close to 50-50 as to whether Zimmerman was guilty of a crime. I think he went way outside the bounds of civilized society and that he probably committed no crimes.
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I don't believe the police will really come as soon as you think they will. Most people live in a world where 911 will not stop a crime in time. When that happens over and over and over what would a reasonable person do when they see what genuinely appears to be one of the same people who have committed past crimes- let them continue on their way and that's that? GZ was not proven to get out of his car to follow TM- he said he got out of his car to find the nearest street address and was ambushed. We don't know if that was exactly how it went- but if that is true then I and most reasonable people would say he acted responsibly and appropriately.