Florida Rethinking âShoot Blacks Firstâ Law
The US state of Florida, home to legalÂ fiascoesÂ such as the 2000 US Presidential ElectionÂ , is considering abandoning a law that allows its white citizens to shoot its black citizens whenever they feel like it. Pressure to change the law has been intense since the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old black high school student who was killed while unarmed by George Zimmerman, an overzealousÂ neighborhoodÂ watchman. A spokesperson for the state claimed that the law was intended as a way to deter crime, but this incident has shown that perhaps it is not particually effective. "It sounded like a good idea at the time" he explains, "I mean if you let white people shoot black people, you get rid of most of the criminals right? At least that's what we thought would happen." As it turns out, however, some criminals in Florida actually have lighter colored skin. Before the killing of Martin, Zimmerman had had a prior arrest for assaulting a police officer. "If we had known that white people would abuse the law to kill innocent black people, we never would have written it the way we did," explains the spokesperson "Frankly the entire government of Florida is shocked that a non-black person would act this way. It really shakes the fundamentals of our entire belief system." Florida'sÂ legislatureÂ is due to consider the issue in a few weeks time. Sources say they may even decide to outlaw all homicide, no matter what the race of the killer or victim. Meanwhile, George Zimmerman remains free.