RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events 17 year old Trayvon Martin shot by Neighborhood watch guy Zimmerman

Race notwithstanding, as a gun "enthusiast" and CHL holder, I'd like to weigh in on the matter.

Zimmerman should've NEVER given chase. Not JUST because the dispatchers said "Don't," though, frankly, ignoring the direction of someone working for a law enforcement agency who has you recorded is definitely not going to help your case. Ever. Take for instance Joe Horn, a Texas man who reported a break-in/robbery at his neighbor's place, which he acknowledged was vacant (he was checking in on the place while they were on vacation) and, while the phone was still live with the 911 dispatcher, he clearly expressed his intent, chased two guys down and shot them with his 12 gauge.

Both cases share not only the aforementioned common point, but also, in any defensive classes you take, be it hand-to-hand or with a weapon, the common point is: Fight to neutralize your threat, but every POSSIBLE attempt should be made to defuse the situation first, be it by flight, by intimidation or by reasoning. In effect, if someone's got a gun trained on you, it's safe to assume the average human won't be able to outrun bullets, and trying to intimidate or reason with the assailant would be an exercise in futility at worst, and a gamble at best. The only exception to this, in the state of Texas, is within your own home, where you do not need to run.

With that being said, one indisputable fact about this case (and the Horn case I alluded to) is that there was no real threat to the shooter in either one. More could have been done by trying to ID the person(s) in question and letting the police handle it. My biggest issue with this whole story is simply that: Did Zimmerman NEED to chase down Martin? What did he expect was going to come of following him? The end result was violence that could've been easily avoided by following the direction given by the dispatchers and -- dare I say it -- using a little common sense. Martin could've been a fucking Smurf, Zimmerman a Klansman. Doesn't change those facts.