George Zimmerman Goes Shotgun Shopping [Report]
George Zimmerman reportedly went shotgun shopping or browsing yesterday in Florida.
Although the Zimmerman controversy has dropped out of the headlines, neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, 29, was put on trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, 17, on February 26, 2012, after confronting the teenager as he walked back to the house where he was staying in a gated community in Sanford, Fla.. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, entered a plea of not guilty on self-defense grounds and went on trial in a Seminole County courtroom starting on June 24. After about 16 hours of deliberation, the six-person, all-female jury on the evening of July 13 found him not guilty of both second degree murder and manslaughter.
According to TMZ, Zimmerman paid a visit to a shotgun maker in Cocoa Beach, Fla. “Zimmerman went to Kel-Tec in Cocoa, Florida… a gun manufacturing company. We’re told he was asking questions about the legality of buying a shotgun — specifically, the Kel-Tec KSG.”
The weapon in question, a so-called tactical shotgun, holds 12 rounds of 12 gauge shells, and is “often used for home defense.”
The owners apparently took Zimmerman on a tour of the premises including the assembly line. The Kel-Tec website states that it does not sell any firearms directly to the public, however, and instead that all guns must be purchased from a licensed dealer. Kel-Tec apparently manufactured the PF-9 pistol that Zimmerman used to shoot Trayvon Martin.
The website explains that the KSG is the company’s first entry into the shotgun market, “is as compact as legally possible,” and retails for about $1,200.
During and after the trial, Zimmerman and other family members received a barrage of death threats. Upon his acquittal, the Florida court authorized the return of his gun, but the US Justice Department ordered all evidence in the case put on hold while it conducts another probe of the incident.
Zimmerman is free to purchase a new weapon under the law, and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation last month began accepting donations to help him do just that. Best-selling author Brad Thor also offered to buy a new gun and ammunition for George Zimmerman (see embed below) when he learned that the DOJ was delaying the return of the pistol.
Do you think George Zimmerman should continue to be a gun owner?
