Blind former Marine dodges charges for killing drinking buddy under ‘Stand Your Ground’ law

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Daily News

A blind former Marine who killed his drinking buddy with an assault rifle two years ago escaped murder charges under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" rule.

A circuit judge in Seminole County on Friday threw out first-degree murder charges against John Wayne Rogers, 40, saying he was acting in self-defense when he shot James DeWitt, 34, on March 27, 2012, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The shooting took place in the same central Florida county where George Zimmerman shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012, which sparked national outrage over "Stand Your Ground" laws.

Rogers testified he shot DeWitt after DeWitt refused to leave his house after a long night of boozing with a few pals.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fla-man-dodges-charges-killing-drinking-buddy-stand-ground-law-article-1.1577736?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nydnrss%2Flifestyle%2Feducation+%28Education%29

[mikeysnot]

1. Wow!

Go home. No, Ok. Stand your ground!

Welcome to the wild wild west...

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I'm impressed... a blind guy with an assault rifle. Florida is really working

on the title for dumbest state in the union.

[PatrynXX]

8. wouldn't say dumb but getting there

not sure how you can use stand your ground if your blind with an assault rifle and shoot first ask questions later.

that and I had no idea you could build your own AR-15 legally and not register the thing unless you sell it. :smh

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. The article claimed the rifle shot .308 rounds ...

... so probably not an AR15.

Did the guy build his rifle? I missed that detail in the article. Building a rifle is not too hard, except if you're blind, I'd think.

As far as registration goes, it would be the same as any other rifle. NICS check for the part with the serial number, the rest is just parts. And, you can usually sell any long gun to another person in the state as a private sale, no check needed, no paperwork.

[Trillo]

3. After a long night of boozing, it was my impression

the correct course of action was to not give the drunk their car keys, until they had slept their drunkenness off.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. He got probation for shooting at his cousin while drunk 4 years ago

Shouldn't probation for an offence like that include "you cannot keep a firearm"? It had been shown he wasn't safe with it.

[MillennialDem]

5. No gun rights are holy and cannot be removed.

[frylock]

6. i suppose calling the police to have one's belligerent drinking buddy removed..

from the premises would've been too much to ask. hail gunz.

[Paladin]

7. There have been several threads over the years in the Gun Control/RKBA group......

....supporting the right of sight-impaired individuals to own and use firearms. This collides with what I learned as the first rule of gun safety: "Always be sure of your target." I have all the sympathy in the world for blind people, but I don't want them driving school buses, I don't want them performing open heart surgery, and I don't want them having unquestioned access to guns.

[geardaddy]

9. Just look at his name.

He must've thought he was "The Duke"

[otohara]

10. Thinking About A Florida Vacation???

I wouldn't step foot in a SYG state.

[blkmusclmachine]

11. Boycott all these states. Put the hurt to 'em in the only place they understand: their pocketbooks.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. In the old days we had to yawn or fake a headache to get our guests to leave.

No more yawn hint hint. Just BLAM!