In light of Trayvon case, Councilman calls for repeal of PA state law
In the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Florida’s police department said their hands were tied by the state’s “stand your ground” self defense law and critics have vowed to push lawmakers to roll back those laws.
In light of Trayvon case, Councilman calls for repeal of PA state law
Jan Ransom
In the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Florida’s police department said their hands were tied by the state’s “stand your ground” self defense law and critics have vowed to push lawmakers to roll back those laws.
It was after public pressure and outrage that the shooter --neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman was finally arrested. (See earlier PhillyClout blog post.)
City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. introduced a resolution today calling for the Pennsylvania General assembly to repeal its expansion of the “Castle Doctrine” law which went into effect last year and is similar to Florida’s “stand your ground” legislation. Council members Bill Greenlee and Marian Tasco co-sponsored the resolution.
“We’re asking the legislature to repeal that law because copycats are everywhere and so they are going to test the theory of whether or not you can be the aggressor based on some trumped up reason that you think you’re threatened,” Jones said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in court whether the assailant will be found guilty or innocent. But I can tell you if he is found innocent there will be replications of that and people will be fighting in the streets like in the Old West… and we can prevent that by repealing that now.”
“I believe in the [second] amendment and right to bear arms and all of that, but responsibly and deadly force should be your last and only option not your first preference,” he said. “The one thing about the Trayvon Martin tragedy is that it brought to light some of the senseless laws on deadly force and proliferation of guns in our society.”
Yes, let's take away the decent citizens right to defend themselves so that Mr. Jones's constituents can continue to pillage.
Stupid councilman!!!— Crazybrave1- Only enter into Philly with a top quality firearm and the backing of a "stand your grand" law. If any place on the planet needs to have that law in effect, it is the city of Philadelphia.— kelprod2
- Another idiot who only represents "the brothers"!!!!!!!!!— WCJRJR
- those 3 councilmen should be poster children at election time morons
— stayoutofphilly - I ask the distinguished council members sponsoring this bill if any of them is ready and willing to walk down Woodland Avenue from 65th to 49th street at night, unarmed and without any police escort. If any of them does it, I'll respect their opinions on peoples' rights to self-defense. If not, they shopuld keep their demagoguery to themselves. Mind you, there have been three murders in the immediate area so far this year.— DonQ
- Second amendments rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution, stop crying about it, you can carry, permits should not be required, so what is the problem? Dodge City had no crime, because everyone carried. Problem solved.— LJM
- Sure --why don't idiots like this just give the felons the official run of the city---they pratically have it any way thanks to people who think like Curtis Jones.— crystalrainbowspirit1
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Maybe if the councilman read the "Castile Doctrine", he realize it only applies to "standing your ground" in a home invasion!! And damn right, if my home is broken into, I'm "standing my ground"...And for someone who works in government, at least know what amendment of the Constitution allows us to bear arms, it's the 2nd amendment you moron!!!— Dadair1
- if the courts would lock up the felons in phila the crime rate would drop like a rock.
term limits on all elective offices— jr23 - Chicken Little " the sky is falling"!!! Jones is an idiot. Philly has become a den of thieves and murderers and he's worried about a law that isn't a factor in any crime in this city. Must have been talking to the brothas Jesse and Al..and Nutter.— dogman5
- Tomorrow is City Council going to issue a statement that justice needs to happen for the poor 13 year old kid in Kansas City who had gasoline poured on him and they said "that's what you get white boy". Probably not because they're racist against white people.— Flyerne3981
- I've had enough of this. The thug shouldn't of been assaulting someone, and maybe he would be alive. If a white man walks through a black neighborhood, they get stared at too, because the animals and deciding wether or not to rob them. So what, he's walking through a gated community, he probably was scoping out the place so he could burglarize it. Just because some loser thug got killed, don't mean you need to take the rights away from Americans to defend themselves. This will just allow more crime. If everyone was armed and feared death if they tried robbing someone. Guess what, crime would drop. But no, the companies owning the jails get too much money from the govt to keep prisons filled, and they In turn pay our corrupt politicians their profits, to make sure crime exists. Welcome to communism!
- So because Trayvon Martin in your opinion "probably was scoping out the place so he could burglarize it." Mr. Zimmerman was justified in stalking and then killing the Kid? Solely on the basic of what he "Probably" may have done, and not what Zimmerman actually witnessed the Kid doing.
You actually think a civilized society conducts itself in such a barbaric manner?
Given some of the statistics listed in some of the post with regard to Black on Black crime in Phila, and the fact that murders of Black Males are 6 times more likely to occur by other Black Males within the Black Communities.
It would appear to me that White Males should feel very secure in Phila. Sounds like White Males have a excellent rate of survival in Phila.
If you're white I don't see where your worries and concerns are coming from. Considering that there are at any given time 47,000 fugitives walking the streets of Philadelphia daily, those are outstanding survival rates.
— Dexter
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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