Stand your ground laws are little more than a license to kill someone, whether black or white. There is now a boycott against Florida that will remain in place until they repeal this vile fig-leaf for violent hate crimes.

I'm not a big fan of Hillary Clinton. I will however vote for her over Jeb Bush, who signed this grotesque piece of legislation. I'm sure the Democrats will remind the public of Jeb's role, in this neanderthal legislation, at election time. This is presuming that the upcoming tea party tantrum won't result in Jeb's being denied the nomination.

Its obvious that some folks on the far right, would like to make the U.S. a western version of Afghanistan where every man has his own automatic weapon and grenade launcher. The Europeans, Australians, Canadians, and Japanese continually shake their heads in disbelief when they learn of some new American gun tragedy.

Bo,

It has been quite some time. I hope that all is well with you and your family.

I am going to weigh in on this because it is a matter of how Florida law is written. The individual, Mr. Giles, said that he fired a "warning shot." In the state of Florida, that was the same as saying that there was no fear for his life. The law in question, is:

aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced under Florida Statute 775.087 (3):

3. Any person who is convicted of a felony or an attempt to commit a felony listed in sub-subparagraphs (a)1.a.-q., regardless of whether the use of a weapon is an element of the felony, and during the course of the commission of the felony such person discharged a “firearm” or “destructive device” as defined in s. 790.001 and, as the result of the discharge, death or great bodily harm was inflicted upon any person, the convicted person shall be sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of not less than 25 years and not more than a term of imprisonment of life in prison."

Due to the law, the young man could not have received any other sentence. Had he been afraid for his life, then it would not have been a "warning" and would have been a shot to stop or kill the aggressor. He should have, being a gun owner, made himself aware of the laws governing self defense. Indeed, his defense attorney did not fight the case as a stand your ground. Perhaps had Mr. Giles not told the investigators that he had fired a warning shot, and his intent was to warn off a potential escalation of a bad situation, then his defense could have been stand your ground. A good thing for everyone to consider, if you pull a gun, then you must be mentally prepared to take the other person's life.