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Showing posts with label ConcealedCarry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ConcealedCarry. Show all posts
Maryland temporarily becomes a right-to-carry state

Maryland temporarily becomes a right-to-carry state

From CBS Baltimore:

It will soon be easier to carry a concealed weapon in Maryland. A federal judge finds part of a state gun law unconstitutional. . . .
It’s a victory for opponents of gun control in Maryland.
A federal judge in Baltimore issues a ruling that affects Maryland’s concealed carry permit law.
Until now, gun owners needed to prove they had a good or substantial reason for a permit, but that has been struck down.
“Even without this good and substantial showing we have one of the most restrictive regimes in America, in Maryland here for getting a permit to carry a gun,” said attorney Carey Hansel. . . .

New op-ed in the New York Daily News: Concealed weapons save lives, The evidence is clear: Massacres are stopped by legally armed citizens

My newest piece there starts this way:

Friday’s horrible shooting in Colorado occurred in yet another place where guns are banned. And that’s consistent with a trend: With a single exception, every multiple-victim public shooting in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed since at least 1950 has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry their own firearms.

The Cinemark movie theater in Aurora, like others run by the chain around the country, displayed warning signs that it was illegal to carry guns into the theater.

This applied to all nonlaw enforcement personnel, including individuals with concealed handgun permits. In other words, despite more than 4% of the adult population of Colorado having concealed handgun permits, a gunman intent on killing a lot of people could be confident that law-abiding citizens there would be sitting ducks.

If one of the hundreds of people at the theater had a concealed handgun, . . .

Mayor Bloomberg has a competing piece also on guns in the same newspaper and his is "Gun Control Cannot Wait."
New paper published in the University of Maryland Law Review examining research on concealed carry

New paper published in the University of Maryland Law Review examining research on concealed carry

My newest paper entitled "WHAT A BALANCING TEST WILL SHOW FOR RIGHT-TO-CARRY LAWS" is available here.  The paper summarizes the research on concealed carry laws and discusses United States District Court Judge Benson Legg’s decision to strike down Maryland’s requirement of a “good and substantial reason” for issuance of a handgun permit in Woollard v. Sheridan (No. L-10-2068, 2012 WL 695674 (D. Md. Mar. 2, 2012)).
Concealed handgun saves man's life in National park

Concealed handgun saves man's life in National park

Remember the claims that there was no reason for people to carry handguns with them when they are in national parks?  From Arizona Central:

. . . A Tempe man who was attacked by a bear in his tent near Payson was in surgery Sunday afternoon at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn with severe but not life-threatening injuries.
The unidentified 30-year-old man was sleeping at 5 a.m. when the black bear attacked him at Ponderosa Campground in the Tonto National Forest just off Arizona 260 about 12 miles northeast of Payson.
"He was bitten in the head and the left arm," said Jim Paxon, spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
"The bear drug him around the tent, but he did not receive skull-crushing or neck-crushing injuries to his brain stem, so that's a marvelous thing."
As soon as the bear attacked, the man's fiancee, in the tent also, screamed and escaped from the tent with her small child.
The bear went to a nearby campsite, where a camper shot the animal several times with a 9mm handgun, and the bear disappeared. . . . .
Concealed handgun permits in Wisconsin now exceed 100,000

Concealed handgun permits in Wisconsin now exceed 100,000

That was certainly fast.  From the Greenbay Press Gazette:

. . . Van Hollen, speaking inside the Department of Justice room where the permits are printed, said no problems have been reported since the law went into effect six months ago, refuting arguments made by “doomsday people” concerned about legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons.
Van Hollen, who holds the first permit issued by the state, said he firmly believes that people ought to be able to defend themselves and the law empowers law-abiding citizens. But he said it may be impossible to know whether the new law has deterred any crimes from occurring.
“I don’t know that it’s safer and I don’t know that it’s less safe,” he said when asked about the impact of the law that went into effect in November. . . .
The agency had estimated 125,000 permits would be issued in the first year, but after it was issuing the 100,000th one Friday. . . .

Florida Governor Rick Scott shots down Tampa's mayor request to ban guns at Republican Convention

Florida Governor Rick Scott shots down Tampa's mayor request to ban guns at Republican Convention

Well, if the city has already banned water guns from being near the Republican convention, I would think that would have taken care of any potential problems.  From Reuters:


. . . Citing Second Amendment protections in the U.S. Constitution, Scott told Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn that conventions and guns have co-existed since the nation's birth and would continue to do so during the four-day event beginning August 27.
"It is unclear how disarming law abiding citizens would better protect them from the dangers and threats posed by those who would flout the law," the Republican governor said in a letter on Tuesday.
Local officials need Scott's permission to enact the temporary restrictions . . .
Florida has some of the most lenient gun laws in the United States and by some counts leads the nation in gun ownership, with about 6.5 percent of all adults licensed to carry a concealed weapon, state records show.
New applications for concealed gun permits have quadrupled since 1998.
In a letter to Scott, Buckhorn said the Tampa City Council had banned a host of items from the area surrounding the convention facility, a list that includes water guns . . . .
"Gun carrying man ends stabbing spree at Salt Lake grocery store"

"Gun carrying man ends stabbing spree at Salt Lake grocery store"

From Salt Lake City's ABC 4 News:
A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith's store. Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon. Smith's employee Dorothy Espinoza says, "He pulled it out and stood outside the Smiths in the foyer. And just started stabbing people and yelling you killed my people. You killed my people." Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. "There is blood all over. One got stabbed in the stomach and got stabbed in the head and held his hands and got stabbed all over the arms." Then, before the suspect could find another victim - a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. "A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith's grabbed him." . . . .
Reuters explains why George Zimmerman got a permitted concealed handgun

Reuters explains why George Zimmerman got a permitted concealed handgun

This Reuters article by Zimmerman paints a very sympathetic picture of a deeply religious man who has tried to help others.  The long article contains numerous examples where Zimmerman tried to help out others.  It is a tragedy that a man who has tried to do so much good for his community has been so grievously maligned by the media and others.  I hope that people feel bad for the damage that they have done to Zimmerman.  From Reuters (the entire article is a highly recommended read):

Based on extensive interviews with relatives, friends, neighbors, schoolmates and co-workers of Zimmerman in two states, law enforcement officials, and reviews of court documents and police reports, the story sheds new light on the man at the center of one of the most controversial homicide cases in America.
The 28-year-old insurance-fraud investigator comes from a deeply Catholic background and was taught in his early years to do right by those less fortunate. He was raised in a racially integrated household and himself has black roots through an Afro-Peruvian great-grandfather - the father of the maternal grandmother who helped raise him.
A criminal justice student who aspired to become a judge, Zimmerman also concerned himself with the safety of his neighbors after a series of break-ins committed by young African-American men.
Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.
"Let's talk about the elephant in the room. I'm black, OK?" the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. "There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood," she said. "That's why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin." . . .

Why Zimmerman got himself a concealed handgun permit.
A pit bull named Big Boi began menacing George and Shellie Zimmerman in the fall of 2009.  The first time the dog ran free and cornered Shellie in their gated community in Sanford, Florida, George called the owner to complain. The second time, Big Boi frightened his mother-in-law's dog. Zimmerman called Seminole County Animal Services and bought pepper spray. The third time he saw the dog on the loose, he called again. An officer came to the house, county records show.
"Don't use pepper spray," he told the Zimmermans, according to a friend. "It'll take two or three seconds to take effect, but a quarter second for the dog to jump you," he said.
"Get a gun."
That November, the Zimmermans completed firearms training at a local lodge and received concealed-weapons gun permits. . . .



Zimmerman apparently had learned that the police would not always be able to respond in a timely manner.
The last time Zimmerman had called police, to report Burgess, he followed protocol and waited for police to arrive. They were too late, and Burgess got away.
This time, Zimmerman was not so patient, and he disregarded police advice against pursuing Martin. . . . 
UPDATE: There is some good news.  Zimmerman's legal defense can easily cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars or even a half million -- murder trials are very costly.  In addition, Zimmerman is currently unemployed.  However, donations to help cover Zimmerman's costs have reached over $200,000, so that is a very helpful start.  Hopefully, with articles like this from Reuters the total can get closer to covering his costs.
With all the negative stories about guns these days, it is good to remember that every day people are using guns defensively even if they don't get national news coverage

With all the negative stories about guns these days, it is good to remember that every day people are using guns defensively even if they don't get national news coverage

From Georgia:

Authorities in Georgia say a grandmother foiled a robbery attempt by two armed men by getting into a shootout with them, injuring one man.
Police told The Telegraph that Lulu Campbell just dropped off her grandson at her daughter's house early Saturday morning when someone demanded money outside her car, threatening to shoot her.
Campbell says the man fired at her, missing. The 57-year-old fired back, striking him in the chest. Her truck sustained eight bullet holes in the hood, one in the grill. Both front side windows were destroyed. The second man fled after she shot at him.
Campbell, who owns convenience stores and gas stations, always is armed. . . .

Matt Richtel: "New Fashion Wrinkle: Stylishly Hiding the Gun"

Matt Richtel has an interesting article in the New York Times on how with so many people having concealed carry permits, the fashion industry is catching on that there is market to designing clothing for people who carry concealed handguns.
Woolrich, a 182-year-old clothing company, describes its new chino pants as an elegant and sturdy fashion statement, with a clean profile and fabric that provides comfort and flexibility.
And they are great for hiding a handgun.
The company has added a second pocket behind the traditional front pocket for a weapon. Or, for those who prefer to pack their gun in a holster, it can be tucked inside the stretchable waistband. The back pockets are also designed to help hide accessories, like a knife and a flashlight.
The chinos, which cost $65, are not for commandos, but rather, the company says, for the fashion-aware gun owner. And Woolrich has competition. Several clothing companies are following suit, building businesses around the sharp rise in people with permits to carry concealed weapons.
Their ranks swelled to around seven million last year from five million in 2008, partly because of changes to state laws on concealed handguns.
Shawn Thompson, 35, who works at an auto dealership in eastern Kentucky, bought two shirts last month from the Woolrich Elite Concealed Carry line. Both, he wrote on his blog, are a step up from more rugged gear.
“Most of the clothes I used in the past to hide my sidearm looked pretty sloppy and had my girlfriend complaining about my looks,” he wrote, adding in an interview, “I’m not James Bond or nothing, but these look pretty nice.” . . .

The story has been run in a large number of newspapers from Alaska to California to others.  The Times of London and The Australian also had an article by William Pavia that went into more the greater concern that women have over fashion.




Of course, some places such as the The Atlantic (with headlines celebrating Bill Maher's language against Republican women and an attack on Ann Romney for her concern over out-of-wedlock pregnancies by teenagers) are just besides themselves that  people would make clothes for permit holders.



UPDATE: The loonies are coming out of the woodwork.  Media Matters has a piece that attacks the piece for referencing me without actually disagreeing with anything that I said to Mr. Richtel.  I will go through some of the initial points raised by Media Matter, but as usual everything that they write is wrong.  First here is what the Richtel wrote that set off Media Matters and then I have listed their comments.



By contrast, in 1984 only 8 states had such statutes, and 15 did not allow handgun carrying at all, said John Lott, a researcher of gun culture who has held teaching or research posts at a number of universities, including the University of Chicago.
Only one state, Illinois, now forbids handgun carrying in any form, but the legislature is considering a change.
A majority of states have long allowed the open carrying of handguns, said Mr. Lott, who also provided the data on gun permits. But the reality, said Mr. Lott and other gun experts, is that people do not want to show others that they are carrying a weapon or invite sharp questioning from the police. . . .
From Media Matters.
1) "It's curious that the Times went to Lott for comment, given that the paper has previously noted that studies of his work 'have found serious flaws in his data and methodology.'"
Media Matters rarely responds to what I write and of course they have prevented me from leaving comments on their website (they don't want to confuse the audience).  I made a post about the NY Times' piece here, though I kept it limited because I was hoping that the Times would publish my letter to the editor.  Unfortunately, they didn't publish it.

Dear Letters Editor:

Michael Luo misrepresented my research in his December 27 news article (Guns in Public, and Out of Sight).  He claims “a few independent researchers” confirm my research but “many other studies have found no net effect of concealed carry laws or have come to the opposite conclusion."

Overwhelmingly, research support my results. Among peer-reviewed academic studies by criminologists and economists, 18 find that right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime, 10 claim no effect, and just one claims one type of crime increases slightly [a slightly out of date list is available here and the new totals are discussed here].

Luo baselessly attacks my work as containing unnamed "serious flaws in his data and methodology” and he never called me for comment. Indeed, Human Events reports that Luo even told one interviewee: “there is no reason to call John Lott.”  He has previously inaccurately attacked me without calling for a comment.

Despite Luo's claim that carry laws haven't significantly increased carrying by the law-abiding, there are seven million permit holders.

Sincerely,
John R. Lott, Jr.
2) "Lott first gained fame in the 1990s for his claim that the passage of laws allowing for the concealed carry of handguns causes levels of violent crime to drop -- a claim that has since been debunked."
Again, among peer-reviewed academic studies by criminologists and economists, 18 find that right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime, 10 claim no effect, and just one claims one type of crime increases slightly [a slightly out of date list is available here and the new totals are discussed here].
3)"Lott has since been convincingly alleged to have fabricated data to claim that 98 percent of defensive gun uses don't involve the firing of a weapon."
I may have been "alleged to have fabricated data," but this ignores the statements by those who say that they took my survey, the replication of the survey, and the differences between my survey and those of others.  In addition, where I have referenced this survey the data was biased against the claim that I was making.  I argued that the simple defensive brandishing or warning shots are not news worthy. The higher the rate of defensive brandishing or warning shots, the easier it is to explain why the media is not biased when it doesn't cover most defensive gun uses. If I wanted to show that the media was more biased, I should have used the surveys with lower defensive brandishing rates.  But ultimately the point of science is replication, and, as just noted, the results were replicated.


Media Matters' link refers to something I wrote up regarding the accuracy of NICS background checks. My response to their claims is available here.
4a) "cited data that doesn't exist to claim that the end of the assault weapons ban reduced murders"
Here is what I wrote in the LA Times: "Well, more than nine months have passed and the first crime numbers are in. Last week, the FBI announced that the number of murders nationwide fell by 3.6% last year, the first drop since 1999. The trend was consistent; murders kept on declining after the assault weapons ban ended."


So what happened?  The FBI data is available here.




The monthly data is shown here.  The Assault Weapons Ban sunset in mid September 2004.  Yet, the murder rate did fall during the last quarter, and it fell more in the fourth quarter of 2004 than it fell during the fourth quarter of 2003.


When I wrote the piece I not only had the FBI UCR data for 2004 in hand, but I had called up the FBI and I had been told that the murder rate numbers had fallen in the fourth quarter.


I also wrote this in the LA Times: "Overall, violent crime also declined last year, according to the FBI, and the complete statistics carry another surprise for gun control advocates. Guns are used in murder and robbery more frequently then in rapes and aggravated assaults, but after the assault weapons ban ended, the number of murders and robberies fell more than the number of rapes and aggravated assaults."


The FBI UCR violent crime data is available here.








So everything that I wrote about was correct, but Media Matters still references this claimed attack as evidence that I "cited data that doesn't exist." 
4b) From Media Matters' 2005 hit piece on my op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that the current piece links to: "The FBI will not release state-by-state and month-by-month UCR data for 2004 until fall 2005, as part of its final report "Crime in the United States, 2004" (the bureau has released previous years' reports in late October)." 
Media Matters may not understand this, but the FBI's UCR had already released an estimate on what different violent crime rates were for the first half of 2004.  Thus it was possible to compare the number of crimes for the entire year to those over the first half of the year and tease out the number of crimes in both the first six months and last six months of 2004.  If there was any substantial change in crimes during the last 3.5 months of 2004, it would presumably show up in the estimate for the last six months of that year.  Finally, in addition, I had called up a person who I had gotten data from in the past at the FBI and asked them whether violent crime rates had fallen in the last quarter of 2004 and I had been told "yes."


5) "altered blog posts after the fact to eliminate false claims for which he had been criticized"
 Media Matters is well-known to publish doctored photos (see here for an example).  My pages are regularly backed up by other sites.

75% of Americans support allowing law-abiding citizens to get a concealed weapons permit

The result that 75% support and only 13% oppose people carrying concealed handguns is probably not too surprising given that in one way or another 49 states have laws allowing people to carry concealed handguns. Results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll are shown here:
The continuing debate over concealed carry in Illinois

The continuing debate over concealed carry in Illinois

With Illinois the only state that still bans concealed carry, it will again reexamine the issue.
The Family and Personal Protection Act (HB0148), failed to pass in the Illinois General Assembly by 6 votes last year, but is in committee again under the name HB5745, according to the Illinois General Assembly’s website. Co-sponsored by nine democratic and 29 republican representatives, the bill would allow Illinois residents to apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. As recently as February 2012, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging Illinois’ ban on concealed carry permits. According to the judge’s ruling, “The United States Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit have recognized only a Second Amendment core individual right to bear arms inside the home.” DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler said more guns could lead to dangerous situations for the police. “Concealed carry laws are geared more toward the individual citizen’s protection for themselves,” Spangler said. “The more firearms we encounter, the more chances that bad things can happen for us as police officers.” . . .
One newspaper in Eastern Michigan comes out in favor of allowing concealed weapons on campus

One newspaper in Eastern Michigan comes out in favor of allowing concealed weapons on campus

With a bill before the Michigan state legislature that will allow carrying on campus, the Eastern Echo in Michigan has this well-written piece (available here).
Concealed weapons should be allowed on campus. There, I said it. After years of believing weapons should not be allowed on university property, I have flipped my position. I can no longer find a valid reason as to why law-abiding citizens who attend and work at Eastern Michigan University or any university campus should be left defenseless. Last week, the group Students for Concealed Carry protested the ban on carrying concealed weapons on campus. It coincided with a bill passed in the Michigan Senate that will lift the ban and allow citizens to legally carry concealed weapons at universities. Last week was also one in which seven people were killed at Oikos University in Oakland by a former student. According to the LA Times, the alleged gunman lined his victims up in a classroom before shooting them. The police arrived as soon as they possibly could, but for seven people it was not soon enough. . . .
Congressional Democrats from Florida sponsor Resolution blaming Trayvon Martin's shooting on "Racial Bias"

Congressional Democrats from Florida sponsor Resolution blaming Trayvon Martin's shooting on "Racial Bias"

Racial bias? Where is the evidence of that? This resolution selectively picks that some parts of Zimmerman's statements to police were accurate. Mr. Emanuel Cleaver from Missouri was the sponsor and Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and Ms. WILSON of Florida were the co-sponsors. All are Democrats. The resolution is available here:
Honoring the life of 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, urging the State of Florida and others to repeal the Stand Your Ground law, and admonishing involved parties to pursue full investigations into all homicides, regardless of defenses asserted by the offender. Whereas on February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an African-American youth, was horrifically shot and killed while walking from his local 7-Eleven in Sanford, Florida, because he was viewed as ‘suspicious' by George Zimmerman … Whereas Zimmerman's unfounded assumptions and racial bias led to the use of deadly force; Whereas a month after the crime, Zimmerman remains free and still bears a concealed weapons permit and the legal right to carry a gun; Whereas Trayvon Martin's brutal death and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free should not be ignored . . . Whereas Stand Your Ground laws dramatically and recklessly expand the right of citizens to use deadly force in self-defense, and have been the subject of national scrutiny in the wake of Trayvon Martin's death; Whereas the Stand Your Ground laws were drafted by organizations, corporations, and individuals that ignored advice from experts explaining that such laws would compromise public safety, disproportionately impact communities of color, and would result in offenders circumventing prosecution; Whereas an attempted expansion of the Stand Your Ground laws doctrine has resulted in the collaboration of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which promotes conservative public policy by affecting change in State legislatures;. . . . Whereas the 2005 passage of Florida's Stand Your Ground law resulted in similar statutes being passed in 16 other States: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) admonishes any State, local agency, or official acting to obstruct an open investigation or failing to fully execute their official duties in the investigation of the events surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin; (2) condemns all relevant parties for their roles in proposing Stand Your Ground legislation and similar legislation that compromises public safety and the integrity of the prosecutorial system; (3) condemns unfounded reliance on Stand Your Ground laws to protect actions that extend far beyond historical use of self-defense; (4) urges any State legislature considering Stand Your Ground legislation to reject such proposals; and (5) urges the repeal of the Stand Your Ground law in every applicable State, including Florida.
New paper: "Trust But Verify: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy"

New paper: "Trust But Verify: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy"

I hope that a lot of people download this paper (available here). Here is the abstract of the paper:

In a recent article, Aneja, Donohue and Zhang claim that they are unable to replicate the regressions published by the National Research Council in Chapter 6 of Firearms and Violence. They conclude that the NRC regressions must have been based on bad data supplied by John Lott. The implication is that earlier studies that found that right-to-carry laws reduced crime were flawed because of bad data. However, we can replicate the NRC results with Lott’s original data and with the data set used by the NRC. The earlier studies are not flawed by bad data.

Al Sharpton calls for escalating Civil disobedience if Zimmerman remains free


This looks to get worse before things improve.  If it were me, I would immediately release Zimmerman's medical records, but I understand that Zimmerman's lawyer is more worried about the legal case than about the PR aspect of things.  From the Orlando Sentinel:
If George Zimmerman is not arrested in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin soon, theRev. Al Sharpton will call for an escalation in peaceful civil disobedience and economic sanctions. . . .
The civil rights activist and syndicated television show host said he will elaborate on this plan Saturday.
"I will speak about how the National Action Network will move to the next level if Zimmerman isn't arrested," Sharpton said, who founded the organization. He added that it was the Martin family and lawyers who first asked him to get involved and nationalize this story.
The Rev. Jesse Jacksonis also expected to participate in the event. . . .
Sharpton said the recent revelations only underscores the need for an immediate arrest and trial.
"Whether he [Zimmerman] had a swollen or broken nose, neither one means he had to take a 9mm and kill someone," he said. "It's not about saying Zimmerman is innocent or guilty, this is about whether there was probable cause to arrest him." . . .
I won't quote from more of this article because I have pretty much given up hope of the media doing a good job on this story. Josh Sugarmann at the Violence Policy Center is on his hobby horse about counting virtually all defensive gun uses involving permitted concealed handguns as killings (his article is available here but please think before you click as there is little reason to add to his traffic totals).  The Zimmerman case that hasn't been decided yet has been added to the total and just goes to show how nutty Sugarmann's totals are.  



The tragic shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman has rightly generated tremendous outrage across the nation. Unfortunately, an untold number of additional families across America have experienced the same heartbreak as a result of concealed carry killers armed by state laws that allow people to carry loaded, concealed handguns in public.
Zimmerman is only one example of concealed handgun permit holders who have needlessly taken lives, destroyed families, and shaken communities. New data from theViolence Policy Center as part of its ongoing Concealed Carry Killers project shows that concealed carry killers have claimed at least 402 victims since May 2007 . . . .
A more complete response is available in my book More Guns, Less Crime (the third edition is available for only $5), but I also have a response available here. 


I am extremely disappointed how many conservatives have added to this call.  Some of these statements have been made during just the last few days.  The amazing thing is that all these statements seem to have been made without actually even reading the police report. 


Mona Charen -- "It certainly appears that Zimmerman used excessive violence." March 30
Rich Lowry (or see this at 11:50 (for full segment) and 16:15 (for Lowry comments) into the video (the video available here can't even describe the Florida law correctly Dated March 25)
Robert VerBruggen
Heather Mac Donald
Gregory Kane

Dr. Keith Ablow has this on another aspect of the story.
Zimmerman's medical records will finally close this case

Zimmerman's medical records will finally close this case

I have been thinking this exact thought for a couple of days.  With all the ruckus over the video of Zimmerman at the police station, these medical records will show whether Zimmerman's nose was broken and whether he had a cut on his head.  From CNN:

George Zimmerman's brother said medical records will prove that his brother was attacked and his nose was broken by Trayvon Martin before he fatally shot the teen.
Robert Zimmerman Jr. spoke to CNN's Piers Morgan Thursday night saying he wanted to correct some of the "mythology" and untruths that have been spread about the controversial shooting.
"We're confident the medical records are going to explain all of George's medical history," Zimmerman Jr. said. "His nose looks swollen in that video. I'm his brother."
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot Martin in self defense after the teen attacked him last month. Martin, who was walking through the gated community back to the house of his father's fiancee, was wearing a hoodie in the rain and carrying Skittles candy and a can of iced tea he had purchased from a nearby convenience store. . . .

The CNN piece makes mistakes about what the law is, but I am tired of correcting the misinformation in the media on this.

Zimmerman video may indeed show gash on back of Zimmerman's head


Just something to keep in perspective.  Zimmerman was treated by a paramedic at the scene and he was presumably cleaned up so that he could be treated.  The police report clearly states that Zimmerman was bloody and battered, that he had a gash on the back of his head.  There is a certain level of conspiracy involved here to have several police and a paramedic colluding on this statement.  Zimmerman's lawyer also repeatedly mentions that Zimmerman's nose was broken.

The Daily Caller has examined the ABC News clip of Zimmerman arriving at the police station and it appears that there might indeed be a gash on Zimmerman's head.

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