Why is it important?
With all of the facts that have been released to discovery, and to the public, surrounding the Zimmerman - Martin encounter, it has become clear that we are dealing with a case that should never have gone to trial. So what is really going on? I think that this article by the AP's Mike Schneider unmasks the answer to that question.
...the case drew worldwide attention as it fanned a debate about race, equal justice under the law and gun control.
Zimmerman's attorney must convince jurors Zimmerman pulled his 9 mm handgun and fired a bullet into the high school student's chest because he feared for his life.
Under Florida's "stand your ground" law, Zimmerman, 29, could shoot Martin in self-defense if it was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm.
"Guns" and "Stand Your Ground" law are actually what's on trial here. There has been enough error committed in this "trial" to ensure that George Zimmerman emerges from the process, albeit at the appellate level possibly, battered but free.
But what about the law-abiding gun owners who rely on firearms to provide a level of security—security that nobody else, including the police, can provide?
Florida has a good SYG law. A law that has been tested and found to be well-grounded. A law that protects a victim's assets from misappropriation. A law that was instrumental is saving George Zimmerman's life.
Keep your eyes and ears on the rhetoric surrounding this case. If it can be implied that guns are the problem, or that the SYG law has been abused, then yet another good law will become vulnerable.
-fl