Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tuesday May 1: Any Way To Get Smith & Scott To Stop Standing Their Ground?

By Sylvia Gurinsky

How politically charged has the aftermath of George Zimmerman's killing of Trayvon Martin become? Florida's elected officials can't even get together on one way of determining the quality of the "Stand Your Ground" law.

State Sen. Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, has just announced the results of a task force he convened. Meanwhile, another task force - the official one - organized by Gov. Rick Scott has recently begun its work.

One reason Smith - likely the Democrats' leader in the Senate next year and with probable political ambitions beyond that - got so impatient was that Scott dragged his feet on the task force matter.

Once Scott got going, he appointed mostly people who are supportive of gun rights laws - hardly an objective panel. Whatever they conclude, it will split the state once again.

"Stand Your Ground" can be described not just as the law that got Zimmerman into this mess, but also as the current attitude of politicians like Scott and Smith - standing their ground for their political objectives, but not inclined to really take the steps required to fix the problems with this law.



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