America's gun culture costs lives and feeds our fears. Consider the
most recent injustice in Florida, the verdict in the Michael Dunn case,
and the most recent news about America's "guard labor."
In Jacksonville, Fla., Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old white man, was
aggravated by the loud rap music coming from an SUV filled with four
black teenagers in a convenience store parking lot. An exchange of
insults ensued. Dunn, who was armed and clearly dangerous, claimed that
he was threatened by Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old high school senior, and
later claimed he saw the barrel of a shotgun coming from the SUV. There
was no shotgun; no other witness saw anything that might resemble a
shotgun. Dunn opened his door and fired 10 shots into the SUV as it
drove away, killing Jordan Davis. Dunn then drove away without calling
the cops, and without ever mentioning that the boys had a shotgun.
Under Florida's inane "Stand Your Ground" law, however, Dunn had the
right to use lethal force to defend himself if he "reasonably" thought
his life was threatened. Dunn's lawyer said, "I don't have to prove the
threat, just that Mike Dunn believed it." The Jacksonville jury found