FL legislator sponsors bill to allow you to shoot when you feel threatened

[madfloridian]

anywhere, anytime.

He is the same one who introduced the bill to stifle professors by threatening lawsuits...shades of David Horowitz.

He is a good friend of Jeb's, the latter bill made it through one committee, and he so proud of it.

Baxley is on a Mission from God

TALLAHASSEE -- Dennis Baxley has a mission statement from God tucked in his wallet at all times.

It's an 18th century hymn, titled "A Charge To Keep," and the Ocala Republican says it's guided him in the Florida House of Representatives as he pushed to save Terri Schiavo, advance Gov. Jeb Bush's education agenda and expand gun rights in the state:

A charge to keep I have,
a God to glorify . . .
To serve this present age,
My calling to fulfill;
O may it all my powers engage
To do my masters' will!

"That's it," Baxley said after reciting it in his corner office in the Capitol. "That's what I'm about."

"A Charge To Keep" is also the title of a book by President George W. Bush. Those two sources -- the GOP evangelism advanced by the Bush family and old-time religion fostered by Baxley's Southern Baptist pastor father -- have fueled Baxley's mission into the spotlight of this year's most controversial issues...."

SNIP..."He is sponsoring a bill that would allow citizens to shoot anyone in any place if they feel their lives are threatened. Another Baxley bill seeks to dampen the perceived liberal control of college classrooms.

Baxley described his role as that of "an adventurer, an idea guy."

"I don't really like the details."

He enjoys tremendous clout. At a recent press conference, Gov. Jeb Bush hugged Baxley and loudly proclaimed that he was one of his favorite legislators...."END SNIP

I don't mind if Baxley is on a mission from God, but he needs to not let that mission be in the Florida legislature.

[madfloridian]

1. Here is his website.

I am so embarrassed by my state. I am upset with our leaders, and they just make me ashamed to be a Floridian.

http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/bio/?lvl=L&chamber=H&ID=36875&submit=View%2BMember

[anitar1]

5. Interesting that his previous occupation

was a funeral director.

[alittlelark]

2. OK, yet another RW whacko that needs to be neutered...

what # are we up to now?..... sigh.

[madfloridian]

4. The whole damn slate of the legislature, just about.

Totally disgusting. There are three in my area who are speaking out against their fellow Repubs....Paula Dockery, Ginny Brown-Waite, and J. D. Alexander. I hate to say anything nice about him since he is Katherine Harris's first cousin. He used to vote straight party line.

[The Magistrate]

3. Sheer Madness, Ma'am

There will be one Hell of a body count if this actually passes into law....

[madfloridian]

8. People are getting disgusted as noted in letters to the paper.

Lawmakers Out of Bounds

"Lawmakers Out of Bounds

Regardless of the let-live or let-die position you take on the Terri Schiavo case, two fundamental truths are inescapably clear: Politicians will pander to vote getting, using any cause. Right-to-life, to be viable and meaningful, must mean life in the true sense of a living life. It must also encompass right-to-death -- and right-todeath must incorporate humane methods."

The 2nd one on that page:
SNIP..."Our state Sen. J.D. Alexander announced that he voted against legislation to get involved because it could, and almost certainly would, open up terrible legal situations in the future.

I support him and am proud of him for that. But I think the most important reason is it's already bad enough having the doctors and lawyers playing God without having our God-forsaken government doing it too...."

Double Standard on Life

SNIP..."Double Standard on Life

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said in regard to congressional action to force the replacement of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, an action that President Bush supports, "We should investigate every avenue before we take the life of a living human being."

Maybe the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, as well as the president, should have applied that to the thousands of people who have died in Iraq because of the ill-conceived invasion.

I suspect that many of the people who protested letting Terri Schiavo complete the process of dying are the same ones that complained when other people protested the invasion of Iraq.

The invasion of Iraq has killed thousands of people, people who, unlike Mrs. Schiavo, were leading active, thoughtful lives....."END SNIP

AND they are noticing the stifling of professors and starting to speak out.

[FreedomAngel82]

13. The most disgusting out of that

is when Bush said this: <"We should investigate every avenue before we take the life of a living human being.">

Where was he doing this for the Iraqi people and our soliders??!?!?!?! Asshole.

[punpirate]

6. Oh, great...

... now there's a lobby for paranoid schizophrenics with guns. And I thought the NRA was bad enough.

Florida has far too many electoral votes for my liking....

[Elidor]

7. I feel threatened by this guy...

Where does he live?

[madfloridian]

10. Ocala. The same city that had some flap about dancing.

I will have to look it up. A prom had to go along with a code of standards on music and type of dancing or be cancelled.

Our state is getting very scary indeed.

[Elidor]

12. I don't have a gun

Could he add knives to the bill?

[madfloridian]

15. LOL

Why the hell not? :evilgrin:

[NoPasaran]

22. Hah! People are always giving Texas a hard time

But I'm starting to think that Florida has more nuts per capita. Pretty much the limit on stupidity in our current Lege session is a bill to regulate highschool cheerleaders' routines.

[Selteri]

9. I'm more worried about the note about

serving his MASTERS', plural, will...

Who are his Masters... money, corporations and Mr. Natas?

[FreedomAngel82]

11. Oh God

I really fear now after this whole Schavio thing is over and when she dies. :\ Think of what the fundies will do with this! They'll be able to get off scott-free from shooting someone! All they have to do is find a lawyer that will side with them and play "victim." WTF?! I truly live in a fucked up country.

[Jamastiene]

14. Does that mean

I can go buy guns and legally open fire if they follow suit in NC? I'm beginning to think I'd enjoy something like that. It sure beats fearing the hate mongers and hoping I don't get caught with mace in college.

[madfloridian]

16. Here is a longtime Republican ready to go independent....

I think registration as an independent makes more sense.

SNIP..."There is a great deal of merit to suffering. . . . Suffering has a purpose . . . and there's actually a lot of meaning in that" -- Fla. Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala.

There, stated plainly, is the fate in store for all of us if those in charge of the Florida Republican Party, along with their conservative-Christian supporters, have their way. They mean for all of us to suffer if possible because of their feeble, perverted view of Christianity. Not me!

I am a registered Republican, I voted for President Bush, Sen. Martinez and Rep. Putnam in the last election, and I have had enough.

Those of us who want smaller government and less government interference in our lives, no longer have a home in the Republican Party. I choose not to be a member of a party that believes that suffering is good for me.

I urge all fellow Republicans to examine the actions of our representatives. Can you continue to support this party with these beliefs? As for me, I think registration as an independent makes more sense. Please join me....."END SNIP

I can vouch this guy is for real, and it took guts for him to say this. The worm is turning a little.

[cornermouse]

17. That should cut back on the tourist trade...

I can see the ads now.

Go to Florida, see Disneyland and Seaworld, get shot.

[madfloridian]

20. And it has already passed the Senate.

This is scary stuff.

[DavidFL]

18. One of the St. Pete Times' columnists wrote about this yesterday...

Bringing the Wild West to Florida

By MARTIN DYCKMAN, Times Columnist
Published March 27, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TALLAHASSEE - To friends or family who are thinking of visiting or moving to Florida, you might want to pass on this advice: Don't.

Lebanon might be safer. Maybe even Israel.

Under a bill the Senate has passed and the House inevitably will, the Wild West is coming to Florida streets. And to bars, shopping centers, theme parks and everywhere else where strangers meet.

This is what SB 436 says:

"A person who is attacked in any . . . place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony."

Continued:http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/27/Columns/Bringing_the_Wild_Wes.shtml

[madfloridian]

19. Democrats Skip Campbell and Steve Geller voted for it.

SNIP..."This upends Florida common law which, as the Supreme Court expressed it, already allows lethal self-defense in public places provided one has first used "every reasonable means to avoid the danger, including retreat."

The Florida Senate's staff report, obviously unread by the senators, explains why this doctrine should be left alone. The emphasis on flight before fight evolved because modern society places a greater emphasis, as the Supreme Court remarked, "on the sanctity of life as opposed to chivalry." The court noted on another occasion that "human life is precious, and deadly combat should be avoided if at all possible when imminent danger to oneself can be avoided."

SNIP..."It is simply this: Senators who knew better voted yes because they also knew they would lose. So they saw no point in wasting a vote that would be thrown back at them in their next campaigns. That has become the particular fear of the Democrats: Don't be trapped into voting "soft on crime."

This is fresh proof of how negative campaigning has become the death of common sense....."END SNIP

[tyedyeto]

21. And here in AZ, soon, you may be able to bring guns into bars...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=139x1749


I am not anti-gun, just that alcohol and firearms don't mix, IMHO.

[onenote]

23. if you just wing someone, do you have to attach a feeding tube to them?

onenote

[nickgutierrez]

24. That loud noise you just heard...

...was the sound of Pandora's box being ripped wide open, like a child's Christmas present.

[madfloridian]

25. Looks like it will pass the House as well in this form.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2005/03/27/a2e_gunlawedit_0327.html

Go ahead; pass this bill.
By Palm Beach Post Editorial
Sunday, March 27, 2005

It doesn't take a lot of thinking to predict problems with Florida's fast-tracked Make My Day Law. The Legislature didn't notice potential problems because, as usual when the National Rifle Association wants something, the Legislature didn't do a lot of thinking.

Because "a person's home is his or her castle," the bill (HB 249, SB 436) says, people need enhanced rights to protect themselves at home or in a vehicle. It removes any obligation to try to avoid a confrontation, by running away or calling police. The law assumes that anybody who gets in your home or car illegally is a violent threat. In short, you can shoot him. That's assuming you aren't shot first after you are emboldened to exercise your new rights under the law."

SNIP..."Aside from home and vehicle, the law extends to "any place" where the person "has a right to be." Any attack can be met with deadly force. What if the shooter says he was attacked but police aren't sure? A law-enforcement agency "may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force used was unlawful." Call it the right-to-escape clause.

The law has overwhelming support in both the House and Senate. Never mind that this, like other NRA schemes — such as ending the assault-weapons ban and preventing police from keeping lists of pawned guns — will give the judicial system fits. When Make My Day is in force, individuals will practice the racial profiling police forces have tried to eliminate. More innocent people will get shot. Prosecutors and courts are going to have their hands tied. All of which, apparently, will make the NRA's day...."