More Kvetching About Florida's Castle Doctrine Law

Well the MSM can't let go of the new Florida Castle Doctrine law. Tired of the same old quotes from the same old gun grabbers, they have now turned digging for quotes from law enforcement types who have something negative to say. ("Most Florida law enforcement lobbying groups along with members of the Florida Senate supported the bill.")

The St. Pete Times can't let go of this story. Yesterday, they went out of their way to find law enforcement types who don't like the law. Or did they? First they start with some positive and neutral statements:

The Florida Sheriff's Association and Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, both opposed to early drafts of the legislation, have taken a neutral stance on the final version.

"We think by and large they have come away with a good product," said Buddy Jacobs, general counsel for the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Pinellas Park police Capt. John Green, a board member of the Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Association, said the group has not taken an official stance on the deadly force bill.

So while they start out with actual quotes, they end with the "sources say" - unnamed sources of course - statement that "some officers" are worried about the impact of the law. Was there not one they could get a quote from? But they are sure that these officers are everywhere, so why bother to get an actual quote? Or is it that they couldn't get a quote, and were not willing to admit that?

The Hernando Today launches a slightly more direct attack on the bill. The only person they could find to say something positive about the bill is Randie Rickert, president of the Hernando Sportsman's Club. (Are they trying to paint Mr. Rickert as a "gun nut?")

But Brooksville Police Chief Ed Tincher was happy to give them their negative sound bite. (What is it when it's in print? It's surely not a sound bite.) While Chief Tincher is undecided about the law, he "worries" that it may encourage "vigilante justice." (I just knew vigilante justice was going to come into this somewhere.) Of course in all of the many stories in all of the many MSM outlets that bring up the specter of vigilantism, not once do they seem to remember to point out that defending yourself from an imminent threat of death or grave bodily injury has nothing to do with vigilante justice. Vigilante Justice would involve hunting down the person who attacked you after the fact. But why clutter the issue with facts? The threat of vigilante justice is a much more dramatic way to slant the story against the law you don't like.

Update 5/3/05 TFS Magnum Coverage of the Castle Doctrine

Marion Hammer Explains the Florida Castle Doctrine Law

Florida Senate Restores Castle Doctrine

Both Florida Houses Pass Same Castle Doctrine legislation

Florida Castle Doctrine Insanity

Even More Insanity About Florida's Castle Doctrine

Some sanity on the Florida Castle Doctrine Law

Update 5/7/05:

Washington State has no "Duty to Retreat," doesn't resemble wild west

'Force With Force' Already Law In Kentucky