I think it's pretty clear that if Zimmerman were black, his mom would have gotten scared and he'd be moving with his auntie and uncle to Bel Air.

Its possible that some crimes may be prevented but if you look at the overall stats and yearly deaths by firearms, USA tends have 10000+ per year while a neighbouring country Canada has around 150. Even when you adjust the population difference, you still get to a 7:1 higher death ratio involving firearms in USA.

Having a gun on you at all times can protect you in grave danger. But it can also lead to irrational decisions, escalated arguments and remove the likelyhood for civilized and  non violent resolutions for fights and arguments. After all, youre packing heat...why would you not charge in to a potential altercation head first? Push comes to shove, its self defense...

how many of those gun deaths are concetrated in inner cities with massive gangs. Heck, how many have come out of detroit and chicago alone this year?

White hispanic is a real term as hispanic is not a race. Hispanic people can be black, white, american Indian, and asian.

And the "guy" was known for assaulting a POLICE OFFICER, resisting arrest, domestic violence, and being a self styled crime fighter/wannabe cop (as evident by his CRIMINAL RECORD--something Martin didn't have yet-- and the people he surrounded himself with).  There's a reason that the jury wasn't allowed to know anything about the character of either person.  Why people seem to think that Zimmerman was this mild and innocent babe of a man and a man of such strong moral fiber is beyond me!  Neither was as pure as the driven snow.  People seem to remember the things they want to remember, here.

What's done is done, and as an American, I accept the judgement.  The man is free and I hope he goes on to live a productive life.  I just wish it wasn't such a dividing issue right now.  I wish these two guys weren't the ones that we were arguing over.

yeah, facts are kind of inconvienient for some, like you.

I wouldnt know exactly butI do remember watching a Michael Moore movie where he compares Detroit to Windsor which are right next to each on different sides of the border and the firearms death rate difference was staggering. And I did drive through Chicago once while going to Ozzfest and honestly, I was downright scared for my life while passing some of the suburbs... 

I do understand what youre saying though and am not arguing against protecting yourself or that people in USA are not doing the right thing by carying guns. Ive lived in 3 different countries for an extensive period of time during my life, one of which had an armed conflict for many years while I was a kid. I understand the different needs that have to be taken for protection...

But I do find it a little strange that a country with the might and power that USA has isn't able to come up with a better solution to the problem of gangs and self defense which you are describing, other than to essentiially force its citizens to carry firearms for self defense.

Ron Paul keeps saying to bring the troops home... That may have some merit. 

Ya that's why our murder rate is so high, because we don't have those wonderful laws of yours. By the way, if some random dude if follow me I think I have the right to be paranoid, in this case we only have Zimmerman point of view I wouldn't be surprised if both of them acted like jackasses which escalated the situation but Zimmerman had the gun so he's the one left to tell the story. Enjoy your gun craze society you created for yourselves while I enjoy being able to go anywhere I want without the fear of being shot by some random guy.

There's a saying where I'm from and it goes like this: "I'd rather be judged by twelve than carried by six". I'd heard this years ago from a coworker. Makes perfect sense, now.

I didn't know bleeding nose and some scrapes behind the back of the head were reasons enough to use deadly force if that's the case be careful the next time you are involved in a fight.