Locked, loaded and ludicrous
Many people were shocked that George Zimmerman was able to confront and kill an unarmed teenager, walk away and reclaim his gun. And, truly, it is shocking that such conduct is legal under Florida law.
If Mr. Zimmerman had followed police instructions and not confronted 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was minding his own business on the night he was killed, Mr. Martin likely would be alive and Mr. Zimmerman still would be an anonymous Crime Watch volunteer.
Much of the debate after the verdict has focused, naturally, on the state of race relations. But a worthy question is whether Mr. Zimmerman would have confronted Trayvon if the law had not allowed him to carry his loaded 9 mm handgun.
That issue is not just speculative or rhetorical. Gun advocates always claim that being armed enhances public safety and diminishes crime, but a large body of research shows that the presence of a gun is more likely to produce problems, such as increasing the likelihood of deadly accidents and suicide.
Evidence also indicates that some people carrying guns behave differently than they would without one. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported several years ago, for example, that a person carrying a gun in Philadelphia was four times more likely to be shot than someone who was unarmed. The researchers said the number was somewhat skewed because it included gun-carrying criminals who were very likely to be shot by police. But they said the principal problem was that armed people often did what they otherwise wouldn't do and went where they otherwise wouldn't go because their weapons created a false sense of security.
If the slaughter of 20 first graders in Connecticut can't produce saner gun laws, the killing of Trayvon Martin won't either. Pennsylvania, like Florida, has laws the promote violent confrontation rather than discourage it. But, since the people who pull the trigger in such circumstances can't be held liable for the results, neither can the lawmakers who pander to the gun lobby rather than to public safety.
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