Republicans are arming America, and that’s creating a false sense of security among some gun owners, because the laws of self-defense haven’t changed.
Even in Florida, with its laissez-faire gun laws, you can’t just shoot people. Self-defense only applies to an imminent threat of death or grave bodily harm. “Stand your ground” means you don’t have to run away, but the threat bar remains the same.
I don’t agree with Republican thinking on guns, or Supreme Court conservatives’ interpretation of the Second Amendment, but if that’s what we’re stuck with let’s at least get tough with criminal use of guns.
Susan Lorincz, 58, of Ocala, Florida, is described by her neighbors as a white “Karen” intolerant of playing black children. She’s allegedly done the following:
- yelled at them
- used racial slurs
- flipped them off
- played loud music
- leaned on her truck horn
- called police on them
- threw a skate at one child
- waved a gun at them
(See story here.) On Friday, June 3, 2023, a black mom from across the street knocked on Lorincz’s door to talk to her. Lorincz shot her through the closed door, leaving four children motherless.
She was arrested for manslaughter a few days later, after the sheriff conducted an investigation, and concluded it wasn’t self-defense, nor did Florida’s “stand your ground” law excuse it. Ben Crump, a well-known black civil rights attorney, wants the charges upgraded to murder.
Lorincz should’ve been prosecuted the first time she waved a gun at a child. That’s assault, and should’ve gotten her a felony conviction, jail time, and banned from owning or possessing firearms. It’s incomprehensible she got away with that. Now, a mother is dead over a neighborhood play dispute.
It’s bad enough there are racist “Karens” in the world (there seems to be no shortage of them). It’s worse when they’re armed. Prosecutors and judges should stop pussyfooting around and disarm them. They have the legal authority to do so. They should convey to gun owners everywhere that misusing a gun will have serious repercussions.
Update: An all-white Florida jury convicted Lorincz of manslaughter on Friday, August 16, 2024, after 2½ hours of deliberations; read story here.
Related story: A convicted felon posing as a police officer used a stolen handgun to shoot at two Army helicopters on a training exercise; read that story here. How about keeping him locked up this time?