Senator John McCain has responded to President Barack Obama’s call for “stand your ground” laws in Florida and other states to be re-examined.
In an interview with CNN’s State of the Union, McCain explains:
“The ‘stand your ground’ law may be something that may needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation.”
McCain responded two days after President Obama spoke about the laws scope and the effect it had on the Zimmerman trial.
According to the Arizona Republican, the law should be reviewed in his state. McCain notes, “I’m confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will, because it is very controversial legislation.”
During his speed at the White House on Friday, President Obama said of the Stand Your Ground laws:
“Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government, the criminal code, and law enforcement is traditionally done at the state and local levels—not at the federal level.”
President Obama then added:
“The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The jurors were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury has spoken, that’s how our system works.”
While he admits the law was followed, President Obama adds:
“And for those who resist that idea—that we should think about something like these ‘stand your ground’ laws—I just ask people to consider: If Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?”
After listening to Barack Obama’s speech, John McClain concluded:
“What I got out of the president’s statement, which I thought was very impressive, is that we need to have more conversation in America,” he said. “I need to talk to more of my Hispanic organizations in my state. I need to talk to more African-American organizations.”
John McCain stands apart from fellow GOP Sen. Ted Cruz who responded:
“It is not surprising that the president uses, it seems, every opportunity that he can to go after our Second Amendment right to bear arms. This president and this administration has a consistent disregard for the Bill of Rights.”
It should be noted that President Obama’s speech did not question the Second Amendment rights of Americans but instead focused on the legality of killing someone an individual believes to be a threat.