Here we go again.
A few months ago, the NRA managed to pass a “shoot first” law in Florida. Vague, unnecessary, and dangerous, the law basically makes it legal to murder anyone at any time as long as, at some point, they made you feel “threatened.” The gun lobby claims the law was designed to make sure that citizens are able to protect themselves when attacked, but the law itself is so vague and so limitless that it’s all but a license to murder. In fact, last week, the law got its first big test when a fistfight broke out, and the man who had been attacked chased his attacker two blocks, and then stabbed him to death. At the behest of the murderer’s attorneys, authorities considered letting him off completely.
The gun lobby was relieved to hear that authorities decided not to let him off the hook– they did end up charging him for manslaughter. But now, another incident has happened in Colorado, and this time, the “shoot first” law, the same one that passed in Florida, has let a murderer go free.
Last year, Gary Lee Hill was attacked in his home by four people, including 19-year-old John David Knott. After the attack, the four got into a car, and Knott drove away. Hill, however, grabbed a gun and followed the car down the street. He then shot Knott in the back, crashing the car, and killing him.
Yes, Hill was attacked. But he chased Knott down, and fired on him while he was driving away. This isn’t premeditated murder, but Hill killed Knott all the same. And now, because of the “shoot first” law, Hill gets to walk free.
A man accused of fatally shooting someone in a car has been acquitted of first-degree murder under a state law that provides legal protection to homeowners who defend themselves.
But a legislator says the 1985 law — known as the “Make My Day” law — may have been misinterpreted by the jury.
Gary Lee Hill, 24, faced charges in the 2004 killing of 19-year-old John David Knott, who along with three others had assaulted Hill in his home.
Hill was accused of firing a shot into a car that Knott was driving. Knott crashed into a house and died from a single gunshot wound to the back, authorities said.
The law’s original sponsor, Sen. Jim Brandon, disagrees with the way the law has been interpreted, but even the Prosecutor in the case says the law is clear: this is a document that’s designed to make murder legal.
“It’s a miscarriage of justice,” said Sen. Jim Brandon, who helped craft the law. The law meant a home’s door to be a threshold for an illegal entry, not down the street, he said.
Prosecutor Lisa Kirkman said the law says deadly force can be used “if the shooter reasonably believes the other person might use physical force against the home dweller.”
And the Florida law is even less clear than that. But here’s the real kicker: in the next year, the NRA has vowed to bring this law to all 50 states. Wayne LaPierre and his good ol’ boys are planning to legalize the act of murder in the United States of America. What else would you expect from an organization that openly works for “more new shooters, more shooters shooting more”?
This is an outrage no matter what you believe. A killer is walking free, because of the gun lobby’s selfish fervor to pass laws that benefit weapons and nothing else. This isn’t merely a “miscarriage of justice.” “Shoot first” isn’t “protection” at all: it’s a license to murder.
