Florida's state legislature is so incredibly right-wing, so invested in pleasing their NRA masters, that they're beefing up their self-defense laws. In the wrong direction.
If you think you might ever shoot someone, I have good news for you.
Florida legislators want to make it harder to convict you.
Not only that, if you escape conviction, they want to give you up to $200,000 for your trouble.
In a bizarre, dangerous and costly new expansion to the NRA-backed "stand your ground law," GOP legislators want to increase the burden of proof on prosecutors trying to convict anyone who claims self-defense.
In the old days, if you shot or beat someone with a baseball bat, you had to prove you had a good reason for doing so.
Makes sense, right?
Not to Gunshine State legislators, who want to flip the burden of proof so that anyone who claims self-defense is essentially assumed to be telling the truth unless the state can prove otherwise, often in a pre-trial immunity hearing.
Obviously, if this law passes, most anyone charged should claim self-defense. There's no reason not to.
Of course, if you're a woman who shoots into the air because you fear your domestic partner's advance on you, don't count on even getting a Stand Your Ground hearing.
[h/t hapkidogal on Twitter]
