10/05/2012 - Myclipp

Reuters General/ - Article, Sex, 11 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights)
Trayvon Martin's mother in Bloomberg
gun control video
By Chris Francescani Fri May 11, 2012 4:14pm EDT
n">(Reuters) - The mother of Florida shooting victim
Trayvon Martin appears in a Mother's Day gun control
video produced by an advocacy group led by New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Martin, 17, was shot
and killed on the night of February 26 in the central
Florida town of Sanford following an encounter with
armed neighborhood watch volunteer George
Zimmerman, who said he acted in self-defense.Police
initially declined to arrest Zimmerman, 28, in the
shooting of the unarmed black teenager, citing
Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.Florida, which has
some of the most lenient gun laws in the nation,
enacted the self-defense measure in 2005, which
provides people wide latitude to use deadly force if
they fear bodily harm. The law is now in effect in more
than 20 states.Noting that "this will be my first Mother's
Day without my son, Trayvon," Sybrina Fulton asks
viewers to urge their state governors "to re-examine
similar Stand Your Ground laws throughout the nation
to keep our families safe.""Nobody can bring our
children back," Fulton says in the video, released on
Thursday to several websites by a Bloomberg-led gun
control coalition called Second Chance on Shoot
First."But it would bring us comfort if we can help spare
other mothers the pain that we will feel on Mother's
Day and every day for the rest of our lives."Forty-five
days after the shooting, following the appointment of a
special prosecutor and protest marches across the
country, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree
murder in the racially charged case.He pleaded not
guilty to the charge and is free on bail."SHOOT FIRST"
LAWSBloomberg and Florida State Senator Chris
Smith launched Second Chance on Shoot First last
month in partnership with several civil rights
groups.Bloomberg often refers to the Stand Your
Ground laws as "shoot first" laws."I hope Sybrina
Fulton's courage will persuade state legislators to take
a second look at shoot first laws and take a second
chance to get them right," Bloomberg said in a
statement.Bloomberg is one of the nation's most
outspoken mayors on the issue of gun control. He has
crafted gun law legislation at the local and national
level, formed a gun control coalition that counts at
least 600 U.S. mayors, and in 2006 directed city
attorneys to sue out-of-state gun dealers whose
weapons were used in crimes in New York
City.Florida, like many other states, has long held
citizens have the right to defend themselves in their
own homes, a legal precedent known as the castle
doctrine.Court rulings have expanded that right to
include employees in workplaces and drivers in their
cars. But Florida courts expressed reluctance to
extend those rights to public places, with judges ruling
that citizens under threat must make some effort to
escape danger without resorting to violence.In 2005
Florida lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a "Stand
Your Ground" bill that eliminated the requirement to
flee, and then-Governor Jeb Bush signed it into
law.The National Rifle Association, which has led
pro-gun legislation lobbying efforts in Florida and other
states, did not return calls and emails seeking
comment.(Reporting by Chris Francescani; Editing by
Daniel Trotta and Xavier Briand)
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