Via Sticks Survival, I came to the story of 19-year-old Michael Maxwell of Palm Bay, Fl. Apparently Mr. Maxwell and his cohorts made a poor home selection for home invasion/robbery and got “beaten, kicked and tased” according to the news report and what his mugshot shows:
Don’t feel bad if you let out a chuckle, I did that myself. My initial thoughts were “He was damned lucky to find a Florida home without a gun or his ass would have been worm & scarab food.”

In my head, I had dismissed Maxwell as another dumb teen doing stupid stuff. Just for kicks, I did a bit more news search and what I found put a chill in the merriment:

Michael Maxwell Charged With First Degree Murder.
BREVARD COUNTY • WEST MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Michael Maxwell, 20, has been charged with first degree premeditated murder with a firearm in connection with the death of James Thomas Wynn in the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 2013.
Wynn was murdered in the 1000 block of Hollister Drive, in West Melbourne, Florida.

I had to kick myself in the proverbial ass for making the stupid assumption that Mr. Maxwell was just a moronic criminal when it turned out to be a possible murderer.  And even the most moronic of criminals can snuff your life out just because or no reason at all.

I cannot imagine what the family might be going through right now. I hope that one of the thoughts is “Screw the taser, let’s get at least a couple of shotguns!”

And to think that there are people in the Florida Legislature who want to re-instate and even extend Duty to Retreat to include your home?  Oh hell no!