The system worked, but no one won

So the verdict came down in the Michael Dunn case.  Convicted on three counts of attempted murder and one count of illegal firearm discharge Mr. Dunn is going to be going to jail for a long time.  The first degree murder charge against him for the death of Jordan Davis resulted in a hung jury and mistrail.  It will most likely be retried.

The case came about after Mr. Dunn approached  a Dodge Durango filled with 4 black teens complaining their music was too loud.   Mr. Dunn was carrying a weapon as allowed by Florida law.   The teens, being teens, ignored Mr. Dunn's request and probably said some things that were rude and they shouldn't have said.

Mr. Dunn then thought he saw a gun in the vehicle which prompted him to pull his weapon and fire 10 times into the car, three of the bullets striking Jordan Davis killing him.

No gun was found in the vehicle, though it did initially leave the scene (I'm fairly certain I would've as well if some crazy person was shooting at me.)  They did return to the scene and if a gun was ever in the vehicle, there was no evidence of it.  All there was evidence of was a dead teenager and a man who ruined many lives, including his own.

We'll never know if there was a gun in that Durango and honestly I feel it doesn't matter.  Mr. Dunn was not a law enforcement officer.  He had no official capacity to enforce gun laws.  If he felt threatened, he probably should have done what most people would do and back down from a hostile situation.

But no, not in our modern American.  Not in a land where "Stand Your Ground" laws exist because those pesky criminals have too much power.

We have guns and we should be able to carry them where we wish and we can protect ourselves when we feel threatened.

Except, doesn't that kind of leave a lot of open space?   I mean, "feeling threatened."  That's pretty damn vague.  So vague that it led a man carrying a gun to fire into a vehicle with four teenagers inside.  It also allowed a man to fire at another in a theater who was texting and threw popcorn at him.

I don't mean to make my blog about guns or gun violence, but its been weighing on me heavily lately.

Lives are being ruined all over this country by America's blind love of guns in any and all situations.

Do I think Michael Dunn is some monster?  Someone who was just looking for an excuse to kill?  Of course not.  I think he was probably a pretty normal person.  However, pretty normal can change when you're carrying a gun.  Its unfortunately, but too many people view guns as some kind of panacea.

I have to wonder, as I do in most of these situations, if Mr. Dunn would have approached the Durango if he had not been armed.  Why he felt the need to be the enforcer of public decency, I'm not sure.  Were the kids being disrespectful with their loud music?  Quite possibly, they're kids, it happens.

But, so what?  Its annoying.  How many things in life are annoying?  I could start a list that never ends.  How many of them are worth killing or dying over?  List just got a whole lot shorter.

However, the gun lobby has done an excellent job of instilling fear in Americans making them think that carrying a weapon is needed to live in safety.

One can only hope cases such as this, with one life lost, and other lives mangled, will be the aberration, not the norm going forward.