ZIMMERMAN TRIAL LIVE LINK

[Whistler]

bettering the world doesn't have to involve confrontations while carrying a gun. in fact, bettering the world just might have to do with avoiding some situations, particularly when carrying. thats the only point i am trying to make. like i said, trayvon sounds very much like a grade a punk but it really isn't disputed that at the time he wasn't doing anything wrong, other than looking "suspicious" whatever that means. report it, let the authorities handle it, don't get out and risk confrontation. just not smart in my opinion. and in this case i think that is exactly what happened, and unfortunately trayvon (even the punk that we was) paid the ultimate price and a good man like zimmerman will also pay a hefty price. and why? for what reason? this all could have easily been avoided and i think it should serve as a lesson to those of us who do carry.

Don't believe I said anything like confrontation but my point is/was carrying (or not) doesn't change my behavior or what I perceive as right. That was originally addressed at the quote below which I took to be your take on the interaction. I presented a different perspective in which both parties were reasonable and rational while conceding it doesn't always go that way but disagree with you that the interaction should have been avoided at all simply because he happened to be carrying. In this case it went south because as you say Trayvon was a punk but I still don't agree you should avoid the interaction (it's not described as a confrontation and believe it was escalated into one by Trayvon) simply because you happen to be carrying (or not) if you feel it's the "right" thing to do. I took the quote below to mean you believe he only initiated that interaction because he was carrying - "chest thumping" or trying to be a bad ass. You also expressed the opinion he should be punished for what I perceive as being a good neighbor by trying to determine what a person he considered suspicious was actually up to. It ended poorly, sometimes it does but I don't think that was ever his intention and hindsight is 20/20. I don't agree it should serve as a lesson to change your behavior and walk on eggshells if you happen to be carrying the same as I don't think you should change your behavior and walk around with a chip on your shoulder starting crap with everyone you meet because you happen to be carrying. My decision to strike up a conversation or watch someone I deem suspicious has nothing to do with whether or not I am carrying, I just feel it's something I should do to help look out for my neighbors. You obviously feel differently and that is the point of discussion. It's my opinion he likely would have done the same things had he not been carrying and perhaps it would have ended differently but we can agree that we ultimately must take responsibility for our personal choices. I hope that my choices never result in my having to take a life, I hope that your choices never result in another losing theirs.

To your point about him not doing anything wrong, "suspicious" doesn't mean they have to be doing anything wrong but out of place for the circumstance. He was suspicious because the neighborhood had been recently burglarized by young black men. Trayvon was a young black man, unknown to George (who as Neighborhood Watch captain should be mostly familiar with the residents) and concealing his face with a hoodie. Had it been a child as Trayvon was portrayed or a middle-aged fat white guy I don't think he'd have given it a second thought but that is just my opinion. I don't think Zimmerman did anything I'd consider aggressive or confrontational but was tragically forced to take the life of young man who chose to escalate the situation to violence with an armed man. Could he have walked away? Certainly. Should he? We disagree. We'll never know what really happened but then that's not what this trial is about.

ive even seen a lot of people thump their chests about their "cool" carry stories where they almost pulled it out, they flashed it to somebody to scare them, and whatever else and rarely do i hear the people say they were extremely polite and very kindly tried to avoid confrontation. usually, whether they are BS stories or not, it ends up being the storyteller trying to be a bad ass and either raising the tension or at least not actively diffusing it, and then they think they are cool because they almost pulled their carry? some people apparently need to go back to training. carrying should not be taken lightly at all and short of being actively attacked of no fault of your own or another person being beaten to death, it should not even be considered to be pulled.