Kill at Will Laws

One of the innumerable comments re: Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law,which I will henceforth call “Kill at Will” law, was one that resonated with my memories, and that is that these laws echo sentiments of the Old West.

My grandfather was born in Southern California in 1872.  This was the time portrayed in the old, and not so old, western movies where gun fighters supposedly could pull their gun at any time and in any place, and shoot at will, presumably to kill their opponent.  My grandfather found this depiction to be really absurd, and used to make fun of it frequently.  He lived to be 94 years old, so had seen some westerns, and refused to see more.

He did have a real sense of what seeing such scenes of irresponsible gun use could have on children, however.  When we grandchildren visited his ranch we had certain responsibilities that we simply had to live up to.  The “or else” was hearing his massive, really deep voice explaining to us, at length, exactly what we had done wrong, and exactly what we had to do to make up for it.  Once a cousin came in for lunch, leaving his pony tied up to a tree with no food or water.  Major no-no for our list of responsibilities which was to take the saddle and bridal off of our pony, curry-comb it down, put it in the corral to roll around and eat or drink before we ever thought about taking care of ourselves. Which my cousin then had to do while the rest of us had lunch.  My cousin got what was left. My grandfather’s point was that those ponies were giving us a great deal of pleasure, and we were to see to it that we took care of them first in return.  And, as he explained, as we grew up and relied on horses to work for us on the ranch, we needed to learn how to care of them so they could work for us. 

If we lived up to our responsibilities as small children, one of our rewards was to be taken down the outside hall/porch to where his locked gun cabinet was.  The key was in his pocket.  He would open the cabinet doors and we would look with awe at the rifles and shotguns.  As we got older, the next step, if we had exhibited responsibility in other areas, was to be able to touch the gun.  Still firmly in the cabinet.  Later, of course, we learned how to take care of the guns, how to carry one with the barrel always pointed down, and how to shoot.  As a result, I have a great and healthy respect for a gun.

These kill-at-will laws completely ignore responsibility. They legally allow all sorts of people to shoot other people, who may be totally innocent of any crime other than being in the wrong place at the right time for a killing.

My opinion, which is a tad colored by my up-bringing, is that in this era of attempting to privatize any and every government responsibility, including trained law enforcement services, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has gotten these kill-at-will laws passed in 25 states in an effort to convince people that the average citizen can take care of him or herself, and do not need to rely on trained law enforcement personnel to do it for them.  So, do away with the police. 

Of course there are times when law enforcement is necessary, so contract those services out to a private security company.  Say like Xe, the former notorious and highly suspect Blackwater.  Citizens will have no control over such a security company because it is a corporation.  However, the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, declared that corporations are people, and we presume citizens, too. 

Carrying this out to its logical extreme is the situation in Michigan that is truly appalling.  The Governor there can declare any special district, city or county to be fiscally incompetent, and disband that jurisdiction’s duly elected Board or Council.  Governor Kasich can then appoint a General Manager for the jurisdiction who can do exactly whatever he, or she, wants, including doing away with any government agency within that jurisdiction such as law enforcement which can be replaced by a private security company, under only the Manager’s authority.  

These are very daunting times we live in.  To keep a democracy we have to have a mutual and universal sense of the common good which we all can agree on.  Our sense of responsibility for that common good is rapidly being eroded.  We rely on this sense of common good to work for us.  We need to take very good care of it, as well.  Which is taught to children when they learn to care for their ponies, or for each other if no pony is available!