The state of Florida is moving into a tragic directed with their controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. The state will arm teachers and if a child is shot, they will be protected under the Stand Your Ground defense.
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On April 25, the Florida Senate approved a bill “allowing teachers in all of its 67 school districts to carry guns on campus for protection,” according to Yahoo. This week the New York Times reports, “the House passed the legislation mostly along party lines, with a vote of 65-47. Five Republicans broke with their party to vote no. The bill, which was approved by the State Senate last week, now heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, who is expected to sign it.”
Representative Shevrin D. Jones tried to pass an amendment that would “have prohibited a teacher who shoots a student by mistake in a situation with an active shooter on campus from claiming self-defense under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.”
Mr. Jones said during a fiery speech, which nearly brought him to tears, “We are talking about black boys and girls who are getting murdered by police officers! There are bad police officers and there are bad teachers.” Unfortunately, the amendment failed, the New York Times reports. Watch his powerful speech below:
The Stand Your Ground law protects shooters from prosecution if they feel threatened. Unlike other self-defense laws, it does not require the shooter to try to flee the scene before using deadly force. Race has previously played a major role in determining who gets convicted in Stand Your Ground cases. Shooters who killed a Black person walked free 73 percent of the time, while those who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time, according to a 2012 analysis by the Tampa Bay Times.
Arming teachers sounds horrific and the fact that they will be protected under Stand Your Ground if they “mistakenly” gun down a Black child is chilling.
This is America.
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