title:  ‘Stand Your Ground’: FL Man Shoots At Teens Playing Pokémon Go
text: Florida s toxic and dangerous  stand your ground  gun culture nearly claimed the lives of two more children. Their only  crime  appears to have been that they were playing the popular Pok mon Go mobile game.A gun owner in Palm Coast, Florida, heard a noise at 1:30 in the morning, looked outside and saw a white car parked outside his house.He grabbed his handgun and went outside to investigate. As he came up to the car, he overheard one of the two teens say  did you get anything?  Troiano said.That s when the man stepped in front of the vehicle, thinking they had possibly broken into his home, raised his gun and ordered them not to move, officials said.The vehicle sped towards him and he moved out of its path. He then fired rounds at the vehicle because he said it  was attempting to strike him,  Troiano said.The next day the mother of the teens, ages 19 and 16, called police to tell them that the teens hadn t told her what had happened until they discovered a flat tire and bullet holes in the rear tire, hubcap, and fender.Florida s  stand your ground  law is part of what is called the  castle doctrine.  It is the result of a lobbying campaign by the NRA and the right-wing group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to push dangerous gun policies in the states. The  stand your ground  doctrine is on the books in 25 states as a result.It essentially gives shooters carte blanche to fire at and kill people without being prosecuted, they simply have to say they felt threatened within their home and escape being prosecuted for murder or civil liabilities in a lawsuit related to the incident. Stand your ground  most notably was invoked in the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, a case that also occurred in Florida.If the teens playing Pok mon Go had been killed in this incident, it is highly possible that the shooter could have invoked the law and escaped prosecution for their death. The mix of silly teens playing a video game and an easily accessible gun could have been a disaster.Featured image via YouTube/Wikimedia