The two youngest members of the Georgia House of Representatives -- reacting to last month's shooting death of a 17-year-old in Florida in a case that has riveted the nation -- promised to file legislation Tuesday that would repeal Georgia’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
At a rally Monday night seeking justice for Trayvon Martin, Reps. Alisha Thomas Morgan, D-Austell, and Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, said, despite the fact that the 2012 legislative session is almost over, gun legislation has to be reined in. In the time remaining in the session, the General Assembly is debating a bill that would lower the age to carry a gun to 18.
“We want to make a statement to get the conversation started,” Taylor said. “So when we come back, we will have something. This doesn’t make any sense. We should not have a society where guns are the norm.”
Morgan and Taylor’s pledge came at the end of a long and emotional rally to bring attention to the Feb. 26 shooting death of Martin in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, and to call for the prosecution of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Martin but has not been charged. One of the the march's organizers, Markel Hutchins, challenged lawmakers to push legislation challenging "Stand Your Ground."
"If you look at all of these laws, you have to connect the dots," said Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, head of the Legislative Black Caucus, adding that two gun bills are likely to be heard Tuesday. "This is vigilante justice and we don't need that. What happened to Trayvon could have happened to one of my sons."
The Atlanta rally, the first to date, was one of the dozens or so held across the country.
Hundreds, some say thousands, lined the front of the Capitol, prompting officials to close the street.
Hundreds of students from the Atlanta University Center marched down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive from their campuses to attend the rally. Despite the late afternoon heat, a majority of the mostly black crowd wore hoodies as a sign of solidarity.
Some carried signs likening Martin to Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy whose brutal lynching in 1955 in Mississippi helped set off the modern civil rights movement.
All chanted, “I AM TRAYVON.”
"We know what justice looks like. We know what justice feels like," former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman told the crowd. "We are not there yet."
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot Martin in self-defense. Florida allows a person who feels threatened with bodily harm or death to take matters into his own hands. Georgia passed a similar law in 2006.
Emory University professor Nathan McCall, whose 1994 autobiography, "Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man In America," explored his experiences growing up with discrimination, class conflicts and racial profiling, said Martin's killing comes at a pivotal point in America.
"What you are seeing is a buildup of the tension, tone and climate that has been around ever since [President] Obama took office," McCall said. "This incident has tapped into an anger that has been swelling. This is a common injustice that we have had to deal with and be expected to adjust to. People are tired of it."
One of the speakers, NAACP Georgia State Conference President Ed Dubose, his voice growing hoarse, asked all the males at the rally to raise their hands.
"I am tired of murder," he shouted. "Every time a hand goes down is another dead brother. They think we gonna rally and blow off steam, then four months down the road, we gonna put our hands down and be through with the fight. But the law is protecting those who kill us!"
On the outskirts of the rally, Jarrett Epps and his wife, Camille, gathered their three children. They all wore hoodies, including his oldest son, Jordan, 11.
"Any one of my children could have been Trayvon," said Epps, who said he was a victim of racial profiling growing up in Los Angeles. "We live in the suburbs, but that could have been any of us and it is important for our children to see that."
With his gray hoodie covering his curly locks, Jordan said he sympathizes with Trayvon Martin and the millions of other young black boys who are judged by appearance.
"He did nothing wrong," Jordan said. "I feel scared about all of this. That could have been me. Once we have justice for Trayvon, I will feel better."
In Georgia
The Trayvon Martin case has drawn attention to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Here’s a look at the law in Georgia.
2006
A law was signed that allows Georgians to shoot attackers without fear of being prosecuted or sued.
The bill extended Georgians’ right to use deadly force to defend themselves, which at the time was restricted to a person’s home and car and to public places such as parks, sidewalks and parking lots.
The bill required that the person justify that they were at risk of serious bodily injury or death.
2010
The law was amended to prohibit guns on school property; at nuclear power plants; in bars without the owner’s permission; in government buildings; at state mental health hospitals; and in houses of worship.
Staff reports
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