When "Neighborhood Watch" Gets Out of Hand

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Trayvon Martin: There are other issues.


Editor, Times-Dispatch:

The emphasis on race in the Trayvon Martin shooting has obscured two other issues. First, why has discussion of Florida's "stand your ground" law applied only to George Zimmerman? Martin also had a right to be in the gated complex. He wasn't looking in windows, hiding or moving surreptitiously, only returning with junk food from a convenience store.

Zimmerman chose to track him and if he were approaching Martin too closely or calling out, he likely made Martin feel threatened. The young man probably had no idea Zimmerman was a neighborhood watchman. He only knew someone was following him who could possibly harm him. Why did Martin not also have a right to stand his ground?

Which raises a second issue: Zimmerman had a permit to carry and most likely his gun was visible. Being armed, he probably felt safe disregarding the admonition not to follow Martin. If he hadn't been armed it's very possible he wouldn't have followed Martin.

Both issues raise the question whether Zimmerman's permit to carry and possession of the gun itself suggest to most that "stand your ground" applied to him rather than Martin. Is there a tendency to think someone legally armed is right and the unarmed individual is not? Why doesn't "stand your ground" apply equally to Martin?