...is that the charge of murder was politically expedient, to placate the black community. After things cool off, Zimmerman will probably be found not guilty of murder and will get off scot-free. This is rural Florida, it may even have been planned to unfold exactly that way. That is just not right.

Although Z may not have gone out to deliberately kill someone, i.e., he is not a premeditated murderer, he did needlessly and negligently precipitate a situation that led to a homicide. The law recognizes that situation as manslaughter and he needs to be punished for that if they can convince a jury that is what happened.

I've given this a lot of thought because I participate in a similar neighborhood watch program, and because I own firearms and am ready to use them for self-defense. The Police authorities that organize my Citizens on Patrol stress that our role is strictly non-confrontational, and forbid us to carry weapons of any sort. It is drilled in over and over in our training, to avoid exactly this type of situation. The cops here know the average civilian is a lot less qualified to use firearms responsibly than he thinks he is.

Zimmerman is an adolescent cop wannabee, and, like too many Americans, obsessed with the glamour and mystique of guns; the delusion that they provide instant security and that he will instinctively be able to use them responsibily in a high-stress situation. He seems himself as a crimestopper and defender of justice, just like others dream about defending the nation from foreign invasion and domestic tyranny. This pathetic teenage fantasy, now manifesting itself in our grandiose constitutional debates, is why this country has a gun problem. Giving the average American quick and easy access to firearms is like giving the average Middle Eastern country access to nuclear weapons. Sooner or later, there will be a needless tragedy, a crime or an accident, or a situiation escalating out of control like this one did. Probably sooner, there are thousands of gun homicides and injuries every year. This was one of them.

That doesn't make Zimmerman a murderer, but he is not innocent either. He should be punished.