Fifty-six percent of Florida voters support the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, with 35 percent opposed, says a new Quinnipiac poll reported by Politico.com. The results showed a notable racial divide: white voters supported the controversial law 61 percent to 31 percent; while Hispanic voters supported it 53 percent to 36 percent. Black voters are opposed, 56 percent to 30 percent.
George Zimmerman, the man alleged to have shot Trayvon Martin, is of Hispanic descent, while Martin is black. Zimmerman has claimed that he shot Martin in self-defense during a confrontation in Sanford, Fl., on Feb. 26. Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law allows individuals to use deadly force in their own defense. Men were more likely to support the law than women, supporting it 65 percent to 31 percent. Women supported the law 48 percent to 39 percent.
By Perry Chiaramonte
While other cities are re-thinking the practice, New York argues its Stop, Question and Frisk policy is crucial to crimefighting.
Americans are arming themselves like never before, and Wisconsin is smack in the center of the trend, says the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Firearms-related...
Read full entry »Republicans have long threatened to bring contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Eric Holder over the Department of Justice’s botched Fast and Furious gun-trafficking sting. Legal Times reports that Oversight Committee, Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Ca.), sent out a 44-page draft of proposed contempt charges against Holder to the other members of the committee. The draft charges that Holder is in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena for Justice Department documents.
Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said the type of information not being released, like transcripts of grand jury proceedings and other sensitive law enforcement materials, have historically not been released because it is not appropriate for further disclosure. Holder has testified that he has never defended the Fast and Furious program. "Once this was brought to my attention, I stopped it," he said. Rep. Elijiah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, said, "Holding someone in contempt is one of the most serious actions Congress can take, but it is being used in this case as part of a partisan election year witch-hunt."
Gov. Rick Scott rejected Tampa's request to ban carrying concealed weapons outside the Republican National Convention, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Mayor Bob Buckhorn asked Scott yesterday for an executive order prohibiting the transportation of firearms in downtown Tampa during the convention. In a response the same day, Scott suggests that Tampa is overreaching in its request. Already, he says, the Secret Service will ban firearms inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum itself as well as in a security perimeter immediately around the convention campus.
"You are now requesting that citizens be disarmed in all of downtown Tampa, including in areas across the river, and distant, from the convention center and Secret Service safe zone," Scott said. A 2011 state law pre-empts cities and counties from passing local laws regulating firearms or ammunition. As a result, Tampa plans to ban many weapons (clubs, slingshots, brass knuckles) and items that could be used as weapons (crowbars, glass bottles, water pistols) outside the Aug. 27-30 convention — but it cannot ban guns carried with a state concealed weapons permit. Amid the protests near the convention, someone with a concealed weapon could end up in an incident covered by Florida's "stand your ground" law. That's the law that has fueled controversy over a neighborhood watch volunteer's fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
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Two panels in Florida are examining the 2005 Stand Your Ground law, which expanded the "no duty to retreat" doctrine to public areas, says the Christian...
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By Ted Gest
Eight of America's leading criminal justice scholars look back over four decades of analysis--and draw lessons for future policy and research.
Read full entry »George Zimmerman's attorney revealed Thursday on CNN that the accused murdered had received about $204,000 from supporters before he shut down the website on which he solicited donations. Lawyer Mark O'Mara said he would discuss the money at a court hearing today in Florida. The hearing was originally scheduled to discuss issues about the unsealing of Zimmerman's criminal file, but the donations could overshadow that issue.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of unarmed Trayvon Martin, 17. Zimmerman was released Monday after his family posted 10 percent of $150,000 bail. O'Mara had said earlier that he believed Zimmerman had no money. "I think he's indigent for costs," he said, adding that Zimmerman's relatives had few assets. "They tried to portray themselves as indigent that they did not have any money," said Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump. "We think the court should revoke his bond immediately, and he should be held accountable for misleading the court."
Read full entry »Mexican authorities have recovered 68,000 guns in the past five years that have been traced back to the United States, reports the Washington Post, underscoring complaints from Mexico that the U.S. is responsible for arming its drug cartels More than 47,000 people in Mexico have been killed in six years of violence between warring cartels. The ATF, in releasing data covering 2007 through 2011, said many of the guns seized in Mexico and submitted to the ATF for tracing were recovered at the scene of cartel shootings while others were seized in raids on illegal arms caches.
All the recovered weapons were suspected of being used in crimes in Mexico. At a North American summit in Washington on April 2, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said the U.S. government has not done enough to stop the flow of assault weapons and other guns. Calderon credited President Obama with trying to reduce the gun traffic, but he said that Obama faces political resistance. There is Republican opposition in Congress and broad opposition from Republicans and gun-rights advocates elsewhere to a new assault weapons ban or other curbs on gun sales.
Read full entry »The U.S. House is looking to spend $12 million to improve the national system for conducting background checks for gun purchases, reports the Washington Post. The House version of the annual spending bill for the Department of Justice includes an additional $7 million to help states provide better data, including mental health records, to the National Instant Background Check System. The full appropriations committee approved the $51 billion bill Thursday. The House is expected to take up the measure next month.
Last week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell sent letters to every governor in the nation asking for support in improving background checks for gun purchases. He asked the governors to provide information to the NICS, which is required to be used by federal firearms licensees to determine whether a potential buyer is eligible to purchase a gun or explosive. In the past decade, more than 100 million checks have been made, leading to more than 700,000 denials. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, praised the funding recommendation.
Read full entry »Several clothing companies are building businesses around the sharp rise in people with permits to carry concealed weapons, reports the New York Times. Woolrich, for example, added a second pocket behind the traditional front pocket for a weapon in one line of pants. For those who prefer to pack their gun in a holster, it can be tucked inside the stretchable waistband. The back pockets are also designed to help hide accessories, like a knife and a flashlight.
Ranks of people with gun permits swelled to around seven million last year from five million in 2008, partly because of changes to state laws on concealed handguns. Carriers of concealed guns say the new options are a departure from the law enforcement and military look, known as “tactical,” long favored by gun owners. The latest styles are called “concealed carry” or “covert fashion.”
Read full entry »In the eight years since Ohio passed a concealed weapons law, county sheriffs have issued 296,588 permits to carry firearms in purses, holsters and vehicles, reports the Dayton Daily News. In Ohio, where the legislature in recent years has eased restrictions on concealed-carry, even over the objections of some law enforcement groups, a battle is being waged over just where to draw the line. Five bills currently pending in the Ohio General Assembly would allow permit holders to carry their weapons in state-owned parking garages, loosen permit renewal requirements, eliminate required gun safety training and background checks and automatically expand the system for recognizing CCW permits issued by other states.
Gun advocates had been working with Ohio lawmakers to pass a “Stand Your Ground” law similar to what Florida has, said Jim Irvine, spokesman for the pro-gun Buckeye Firearms Association, though he noted that the Trayvon Martin slaying in Florida “put a chill on it.” He said the gun lobby in Ohio has been successful for two reasons. “Number one is the facts are on our side,” he said. “We were the last state to adopt concealed carry so we were not breaking any new ground here. The other piece is gun owners, particularly concealed carry owners, are politically active.”
Read full entry »Frustrated by a Florida law that blocks all local regulation of guns, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn expects to reach out to Gov. Rick Scott for help keeping concealed firearms away from protests during the Republican National Convention there in August. The 2011 state law pre-empts the ability of cities and counties to pass any laws regulating firearms or ammunition. So while Tampa plans to ban a wide range of weapons (clubs, switchblades, Mace) and things that could be used as weapons (chains, glass bottles, water pistols) outside the convention, it cannot prohibit guns carried with a concealed weapons permit.
Buckhorn anticipates sending Scott a letter soon asking the state to explore a way to suspend the law temporarily during the Aug. 27–30 convention. He hopes that would create a way to ban concealed weapons inside the city's proposed "Clean Zone," which covers downtown and surrounding areas. "The absurdity of banning squirt guns but not being able to do anything about real guns is patently obvious," Buckhorn said. "Given the nature and the potential dynamic of this event, I think it would make sense that you would not want firearms introduced into that environment by people other than law enforcement."
Read full entry »Florida Gov. Rick Scott's new task force on public safety will begin reviewing the state's "stand your ground" law in two weeks, but the lawmakers anchoring the group have voting records packed with support for the law and other gun rights expansions, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Critics of the Republican-leaning group doubt it will be able to effect real change. Created in the wake of Trayvon Martin's shooting death, the group is tasked with reviewing laws and policies that affect public safety.
"We have tapped a diverse and qualified group to carefully review our laws and our policies," Scott said Thursday, standing next to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who will serve as chair. Carroll co-sponsored "stand your ground" in 2005 and voted for it. House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, also helped choose members. Each was a co-sponsor of the law. The elected officials they selected include Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who sponsored the "stand your ground'' measure and has indicated it doesn't need to be changed. The 17-member task force includes several legal professionals and neighborhood watch volunteers from across the state.
Read full entry »Threatening a poor gun-rights grade for politicians who don't toe the line, the National Rifle Association is demanding that Tennessee legislators force a vote on a bill that would block employers from banning firearms in company parking lots, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The NRA said the failure of state House and Senate Republican leaders to bring the issue to the legislative floor is a “perversion of the representative democracy.” In a letter distributed to all 99 House members Thursday, the politically powerful gun-rights group said it will grade lawmakers on whether they get behind the efforts to bring the bill to the legislative floor.
The effort appears to be an attempt to get the House to suspend its rules, bypass its Calendar and Rules Committee and bring the bills directly to the floor if necessary. It takes 66 votes, or two-thirds of the House membership, to suspend rules. But the proposal pins Republicans between two of their most powerful constituencies — the NRA and business groups — which are at each others’ throats over the legislation. Business groups and individual companies, including Volkswagen in Chattanooga and Memphis-based FedEx, charge that the two bills violate their property rights and pose safety threats. The NRA and other advocates say the “Safe Commute Act” will ensure gun owners’ safety to and from work. One bill strips businesses, schools and colleges of the right to ban weapons, while the other bars employers from discriminating against workers who bring guns.
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