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Mayor Bloomberg Exploits Trayvon Martin Tragedy to Push Gun Control

Kevin Glass

Managing Editor, Townhall.com

Apr 11, 2012 10:08 PM EST

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The shooting death of an unarmed seventeen-year-old is a tragedy. Conservatives, however, have been suspicious of the media firestorm surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin for a few different reasons.

Events involving Al Sharpton, the New York Times and NBC have been pushing a narrative that this singular event - regardless of the facts of the case - "proves" that America is a deeply racist nation. The other big reason is that conservatives are wary that the Left won't let a crisis go to waste and pursue more gun control laws.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proving those fears correct. Today he partnered with liberal groups for a campaign he's calling "Second Chance to Shoot First."

The campaign aims to repeal or reform the laws that eliminated a person's duty to retreat when threatened with serious bodily harm or death. These laws have passed in 25 states.

Bloomberg said these laws undermine the integrity of the justice system, threaten public safety and make it more difficult to prosecute shooters.

The grassroots campaign will contact state legislators who have passed what he terms "shoot first" laws, produce education material for the public and create model legislation.

"The tragic death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., touched a nerve all across this country," Bloomberg said. "I believe we all have a responsibility to investigate the meaning of this terrible event for our nation and then to take action."

Bloomberg said neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who shot Martin, should have never had a gun with his history of violence. He said New York and other states would not have allowed him to carry a gun.

To make this naked exploitation worse, Martin's parents' attorney want Trayvon's name attached to the laws, and call it "the Trayvon Martin Law."

Never mind that Stand Your Ground laws have had nothing to do with the Zimmerman-Martin shooting. Never mind that, if anything, it was police malfeasance on the scene of the incident that led to Zimmerman being set free. No, liberals see this as an opportunity to push more gun control laws.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg promotes himself as a pragmatist who doesn't hew to ideological boxes. He's right about that - he sees no reason whatsoever that the government shouldn't push itself into any aspect of any American's life. And he doesn't see any reason why his ungrounded "pragmatism" shouldn't be followed by the ignoramuses in the flyover states. Because Michael Bloomberg just knows better than anyone else.

Nolan wrote:Liberalism is a disease--amen

Bloomberg Blasts NRA Over 'Stand Your Ground' Laws
ABC NewsBy ABC News | ABC News – 16 hrs ago


ABC News' Ben Forer, Aaron Katersky and Thomas Giusto report:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for the nationwide reform or repeal of Stand Your Ground laws today at an event in Washington D.C. to announce the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign.

The campaign is intended to prevent killings like that of17-year-old Trayvon Martin and Bloomberg blamed the National Rifle Association for the Florida law that many feel empowered George Zimmerman to shoot the unarmed Martin.

"In reality the NRA's leaders weren't interested in public safety. They were interested in promoting a culture where people take the law into their own hands and face no consequences for it. Let's call that by its real name, vigilantism," he said. "The NRA should be ashamed of themselves. This has nothing to do with gun owners rights. It has nothing to do with the second amendment."

Bloomberg, who was joined by civil rights leaders and Florida State Sen. Chris Smith, said the laws had undermined the justice system and have done harm to public safety.

"They justify civilian gunplay and invite vigilante justice and retribution with disastrous results," he said.

ABC News reached out to the NRA for comment, but it has yet to respond.

Two dozen states have enacted laws similar to the one in Florida, and while the laws very from state to state most grant varying degrees of immunity to anyone who uses deadly force in self defense.

Bloomberg cited statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to show an increase in justifiable homicides after the Stand Your Ground laws went into effect.

In Florida, he said, justifiable homicides increased from 12 per year to 36 per year when the five years before and after the passage of the law were compared.

Bloomberg was also joined by former Army Major Jon Soltz, the chairman of VoteVets.org. Soltz said that U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan had a higher standard of when to use deadly force than Americans who lived in states with Stand Your Ground laws.

"There is no shoot first law for our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. We cannot just shoot somebody because they have a hijab on in Iraq and kill them and say we're scared. Everybody in Iraq has a weapon and all U.S. forces are always scared," Soltz said. "This is a legal protection in these states that is actually afforded to Mr. Zimmerman that is not afforded to our troops in combat. Unless I'm wrong I didn't think Florida was a war zone.

ssracer wrote:No one outside of Sanford florida would even know about the case

kokopelli wrote:Why don't we just become a 'civilized' society and ban gun ownership by private citizens?
With that law in place, surely there will be no gun crime at all.
-Just like in Australia.

Oh, wait. In Australia, 10 years after they confiscated everyone's guns a study was done and it showed there was a 400% INCREASE in violent crime!

nevermind.

BIGC wrote:lock and load.... I wont stand by and watch my house burn to the ground because they riot over shit.......