This Time Around, There's Some Justice In Crackerville

George Zimmerman was acquitted and walked free.  A travesty, frankly.  No such luck for fellow pistol-packer Michael Dunn.

After leaving a wedding reception, Dunn and his girlfriend stopped at a Jacksonville, FL gas station and convenience store.  The girlfriend went inside to buy more wine while Dunn gassed up their car.  A carload of teenagers pulled up at another pump, with music playing at maximum volume.  (Dunn later said it was "that rap crap.  I hate thug music.")  Dunn told the kids -- all four of whom happened to be black -- to turn it down.  When they didn't, Dunn took his handgun from the glovebox (he had a concealed carry permit) and fired ten shots at their vehicle.  Three of those rounds struck and killed 17-year old Jordan Davis.

After the shooting, Dunn said nothing about it to his girlfriend and did not call the police.  Instead, they calmly drove to a hotel, checked in and ordered a pizza.

Arrested the next day, Dunn at first expressed complete surprise and claimed that it wasn't him, then claimed he saw one of the kids brandish a gun, so he opened fire in self-defense. The teens were unarmed; there was no gun.

Nevertheless, at trial Dunn continued to claim self-defense under Florida's infamous "stand-your-ground" law, saying he feared for his life and was therefore within his rights to discharge his weapon.

This time, however, the jury wasn't buyin' the bullshit and justice was served.  Dunn was convicted of second-degree murder and will do serious time.  He got a little drunk at a wedding and, due to the legal presence of his trusty sidearm, made the worst decision of his life.  Had there been no gun in his glovebox, there almost certainly would have been a different, better outcome.

Jordan Davis and friends were not a threat, they were black.  Loud music is not a capital offense.  Concealed-carry permits are dangerous.  Stand-your-ground laws must go.