Sansfear posted:
The rules of the Neighborhood Watch do not override the rules of Florida. If he was a member of the Neighborhood Watch, maybe they will kick him out for violating their bylaws, but it still has no bearing on whether or not he broke the law.
A lot of businesses have rules against employees carrying weapons. There was a story recently (probably several of them) where a pizza delivery guy had been robbed and decided to carry a gun with him for protection even though it was against his company's policies.
Someone tried to rob him and he shot them in self-defense. And while the company fired him for having a gun, he wasn't charged with any crime by the police.
This is absolutely true. That's not the argument. The argument is that if he is in fact Neighborhood Watch, and acting as their captain, he doesn't have the right, within the rules of his own organization, to carry a firearm. According to the rule he is supposedly following and upholding.
But we know, from the organization disavowing him, that's not the case. He is acting as a private citizen with a legal weapon. And yes, he has the right to carry a firearm. Again, that's not in question.
The question is: does he have a right to carry a firearm under the guise of Neighborhood Watch?
The answer is an emphatic no. All the organization officials have stated this repeatedly. So, as a private citizen, trying to guise himself under the banner of the Neighborhood Watch, he stalked this child down without legal right to do so.
Just because you have the legal right to carry a firearm does
not give you the right to shoot someone under the disguise of 'The Neighborhood Watch' program.
A person who seeks out 'criminals' and shoots them without legal right is a vigilante. Zimmerman wanted to play Punisher. And now, he should pay the price.
-----signature-----
Sanctimonious know-it-all.
