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Judi Lynn

(160,530 posts)
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 05:40 PM Apr 2016

Attorney General Candidate On Verge Of Bringing ‘Shoot First’ Law To Missouri

Source: Think Progress

Attorney General Candidate On Verge Of Bringing ‘Shoot First’ Law To Missouri
by Josh Israel Apr 28, 2016 1:56 pm



Missouri state Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R)

In July 2013, George Zimmerman was acquitted for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, thanks in part to Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. In the wake of that decision, the U.S. attorney general, an American Bar Association task force, and numerous state legislators have urged states to rethink such laws, which permit citizens to use deadly force with no duty to retreat.

But thanks to a highly controversial legislator and candidate for state attorney general, Missouri may be on the verge of becoming the first state to enact such a law since that time.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R) successfully attached an amendment on Wednesday night onto S.B. 663, a crime bill, that would allow deadly force to be used against trespassers on one’s private property if a person “reasonably believes” it is “necessary to protect himself, or herself or her unborn child, or another against death, serious physical injury, or any forcible felony.”

Schaefer, who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general, had earlier proposed Stand Your Ground as a stand-alone bill. He argued at the time that the bill would let people focus on defending themselves instead of the future legal implications of their actions: “You’re going to do whatever you need to do if your safety is in jeopardy. The question is, what happens in the lawsuit after that? Are you going to be faced with liability after that?”

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/04/28/3773507/kurt-schaefer-missouri-stand-your-ground/

23 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Attorney General Candidate On Verge Of Bringing ‘Shoot First’ Law To Missouri (Original Post) Judi Lynn Apr 2016 OP
Yes, because what every republican Dad "reasonably" wants Turbineguy Apr 2016 #1
Just what we need here in Missouri. leftyladyfrommo Apr 2016 #2
What could possibly go wrong? marble falls Apr 2016 #3
This is why we need to stop things going to the right. Unicorn Apr 2016 #4
Love the headline! ManiacJoe Apr 2016 #5
good lord... Locrian Apr 2016 #6
As long as it is restricted to your own property Egnever Apr 2016 #7
Based on this law... mark67 Apr 2016 #8
There's a higher standard of proof when not in the home TexasMommaWithAHat May 2016 #23
Yep, shoot whomever you like and then claim you were defendingg yourself, just like sinkingfeeling Apr 2016 #9
not like zimerman at all Egnever Apr 2016 #10
It's a good thing that bullets stop moving when they hit property lines . . . hatrack May 2016 #18
In Florida a convicted murderer has killed 3 people, some on video and use the Stand Your Ground Law rladdi Apr 2016 #11
Cite please. beevul May 2016 #21
well the cops shoot first anyway heaven05 Apr 2016 #12
This is a right to murder and kill law JunkYardDogg Apr 2016 #13
from back in the day of Zimmerman keithbvadu2 Apr 2016 #14
Sad K&R. So very Republican. Vicious. Overseas May 2016 #15
I suggest he not campaign door-to-door after it's passed. Vinca May 2016 #16
He looks like a piece of work 47of74 May 2016 #17
"...her unborn child or another..." Paladin May 2016 #19
Yes. We really need this in Missouri. Sarcasm leftyladyfrommo May 2016 #20
Seems mostly reasonable flashsmith99 May 2016 #22

Turbineguy

(37,331 posts)
1. Yes, because what every republican Dad "reasonably" wants
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 09:17 PM
Apr 2016

is his children to be shot before they start driving.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,868 posts)
2. Just what we need here in Missouri.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 10:01 PM
Apr 2016

A few more shootings to go with the already daily shootings that we have. I think there were 3 little children shot here in the last 3 days.

Locrian

(4,522 posts)
6. good lord...
Fri Apr 29, 2016, 03:29 PM
Apr 2016

What sad and pathetic little lives these people lead.
All fear, all the time. Afraid of their own shadow, and of monsters behind every corner. Shoot first - no consequences, just because.


And even more here:

This is not the first time Schaefer’s arch-conservative actions have made national news. He has recently presided over a special senate committee on “the sanctity of life,” which has sought to jail Planned Parenthood employees for refusing to turn over documents containing patients’ private medical information. Last year, he attempted to block a University of Missouri grad student from researching the impact of abortion waiting periods.


Again. Sad and pathetic. So much energy that could be spent on helping people and just seeing the good in everything w/o having to be so preoccupied with some weird concept of what's right. And it's more than that - it's a position that is almost downright "evil" in the controlling aspect and overall disregard for others.

mark67

(196 posts)
8. Based on this law...
Fri Apr 29, 2016, 04:20 PM
Apr 2016

Many of my friends and I could have been legally shot and killed several times over without the property owner facing any type of legal scrutiny...we used to cut across peoples yards, etc...for shortcuts to the bus stop, etc...

I really don't understand the point of these laws...

TexasMommaWithAHat

(3,212 posts)
23. There's a higher standard of proof when not in the home
Wed May 4, 2016, 11:16 AM
May 2016

It's pretty easy to see that one could fear for one's life if someone breaks into one's home, while it's much harder to prove that one feared for one's life from the two teens cutting across one's property. I don't own a gun at the moment, but have in the past, and if anyone entered my house and I could shoot, I would have.

I've had my house burglarized when I wasn't home, and I felt personally violated and frightened for years afterwards. Yeah. It's a horrible feeling to come home late at night - sleepy children in tow - with your back door wide open and your house ransacked.

I can't imagine what it would have been like had I and my children been home when it happened.

The point of the law - no one should have to go broke defending herself in a court of law for defending herself in her own home.

sinkingfeeling

(51,457 posts)
9. Yep, shoot whomever you like and then claim you were defendingg yourself, just like
Fri Apr 29, 2016, 08:10 PM
Apr 2016

Zimmerman did. How much fun life will be in Missouri!

rladdi

(581 posts)
11. In Florida a convicted murderer has killed 3 people, some on video and use the Stand Your Ground Law
Fri Apr 29, 2016, 09:57 PM
Apr 2016

The courts in all 3 outright murders agreed with the convicted murder, even though there is video to show he shot them in the back. This law allow murderers to kill and never be charged. The courts don't seem to give the murdered victims any rights anymore.

 

beevul

(12,194 posts)
21. Cite please.
Mon May 2, 2016, 02:23 PM
May 2016

A convicted murderer is a felon and as such prohibited from touching firearms to begin with.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
12. well the cops shoot first anyway
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 10:34 AM
Apr 2016

especially if the recipient of the bullet(s) are AA, so this POS might as well pass that right along to his kind....

JunkYardDogg

(873 posts)
13. This is a right to murder and kill law
Sat Apr 30, 2016, 11:20 AM
Apr 2016

There is nothing in it or about it that involves self defense
If somebody is on your property, you can kill them
Like the meter readers, delivery people, people passing out flyers, anybody
Based on a perception of feeling endangered
This law has absolutely nothing to do with the right to own guns
It has everything to do with the right to murder
Shit, this guy looks like a scummy little weasel, wonder how many times he had his ass kicked in school

Vinca

(50,271 posts)
16. I suggest he not campaign door-to-door after it's passed.
Sun May 1, 2016, 03:30 PM
May 2016

He's got a creepy perv thing going on. Someone might "reasonably believe" they were in danger.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,868 posts)
20. Yes. We really need this in Missouri. Sarcasm
Mon May 2, 2016, 10:16 AM
May 2016

I think people are kind of doing this already. Only they usually manage to hit some poor little toddler who accidently got in the way.

Everybody just seems to be out shooting at each other for one stupid thing or another. Sometimes its the gangs out for revenge because someone feels disrespected. Sometimes its road rage. Sometimes its just that some loving parent left a loaded gun out where the kids got ahold of it and shot each other.

It's all mindless. It's all stupid.

flashsmith99

(21 posts)
22. Seems mostly reasonable
Mon May 2, 2016, 04:35 PM
May 2016

First, I do believe that crime should be hazardous to your health. Having said that, I don't think anyone should be judge, jury and executioner. And I do have problems reconciling those two beliefs. If you live in an area where the police are 5 minutes away after a 911 call, I lean much more to the second belief. If you live in the boonies where police are hours away, I lean towards the first belief. You are on your own an it is unlikely you have the skill to confront an armed intruder and come out ahead, armed only with your wits. The law references intruders trespassing on your property which is a bit broad. If they are in your home, it's panic time and you should be able to remove the threat anyway you can. If they are on your property but not in your home, I don't know how you can assume they are a threat, unless they are visibly armed, in which case you should be able to remove the threat anyway you can, but myself, I would hide. The bill is not about guns, it is about lethal force. The homeowner might use a baseball bat which is plenty lethal. I wish the technology on non lethal weapons would progress a bit faster. A one shot taser is useless, since if you miss, you're are done for. I see they now have multi shot tasers so the technology is going in the right direction. The law would be better if it only gave safe harbor if you used a weapon that is expected to be non-lethal, such as a taser. That might encourage people to buy those weapons instead of shot guns.

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