To the editor:

I don’t know about the other J-W readers, but this incident where a young man lost his life on a front porch really upsets and depresses me. Certainly the young victim shares some blame for being drunk and belligerent. The shooter was not charged with murder because of this vague “stand your ground” law.

Although I am a gun owner and believe in the right to defend your home, I don’t feel the circumstances of this event meets the real intent of that law. If it were me, I would have found my weapon, then dialed 911 since the police were literally minutes away. I would make sure the door was locked and definitely would not have gone outside to confront a 300-pound drunk man.

This event should never have occurred. I am glad I am not that shooter for I would have nightmares the rest of my life thinking how I took the life of a young man unnecessarily. This law seems much too vague and needs to be more clearly defined as far as putting oneself in a threatening situation. As it stands, I really don’t think I would go door-to-door collecting for any charity for fear of perhaps getting shot because I am kind of a big guy and I may be perceived as threatening.

We now live in a violent hostile world. This is a very sad story and it continues to bother me.