New Florida Gun Law Allows Wide-Ranging Self DefenseA bill permitting the use of deadly force during a home invasion or when an individual considers themselves threatened unanimously passed the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
The measure (SB 436) would eliminate criminal penalties for an individual who uses deadly force as self-protection in his home or vehicle and other unspecified circumstances.
The Senate passed the gun measure, supported by the National Rifle Association, on a 38-0 vote just moments after it defeated a proposal that might have cleared the way for Terri Schiavo's feeding tube to be reinserted.
The open-ended language on the bill sponsored by Sen. Durell Peaden Jr. concerned some lawmakers.
"Under the wording of this bill, somebody could go onto any of the streets and if they think somebody is walking toward them in a threatening fashion, they can pull out a gun and begin blasting away," said Sen. Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, who sought unsuccessfully to amend the bill on Tuesday.
"We're heading towards a Wild West mentality," Geller said. "I am concerned that you could literally have two guys standing on the street, both of them ready, the guns at their side, and then say 'Well the other guy threatened me so I pulled a gun and shot him in self defense.'"
Peaden, R-Crestview, scoffed at the characterization.
"You have to be within the confines of the dwelling as described in this bill," Peaden said during Wednesday's floor debate. "You just can't shoot anybody on the street and drag 'em in."
Geller said he voted for the bill for political reasons.
"We'd be seen as Democrats soft on crime," he said.
A similar proposal (HB 249) was approved on an 8-2 vote Wednesday by the House Justice Council.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/24/160309.shtml* FW Note: Even amidst all the typical wailing, gnashing of teeth, cries of a return to the "Wild West" and worries of blood in the street, it is refreshing to see a body of government
somewhere putting the weight of the law behind a common sense issue. Honest people defending themselves against crime and criminals shouldn't be punished for doing what they must to protect their own lives.
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