Florida legislators are pushing ahead with a bill designed to make it clear people can show a gun, or even fire a warning shot, without drawing a lengthy prison sentence.
Now, this law is actually intended to right a wrong:
The legislation was partially inspired by the case of Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman who was given a 20-year prison sentence after firing a gun near her estranged husband during an argument. Alexander's conviction was thrown out by an appeals court and she is scheduled to have a new trial this year.
But Robert Bateman writes for Esquire that legalizing warning shots will just make things worse:
Let's start with the obvious: in the State where “stand your ground” means, "shoot and then claim self-defense even if you were stalking somebody," this cannot be a good idea. It plays upon fear and loathing and probably more than a wee bit of racism, despite the fact that it was essentially enabled by the fact that a black woman once used a gun, non-lethally, in self-defense.
Soon, there will be laws in Florida requiring you to fire a gun into the air while entering a bar, just to show everyone that you mean business.
