Lucy McBath, Mother of Slain Teen Jordan Davis, Statement on Man Who Kiled Trayvon Martin Attempting to Auction Gun Online

NEW YORK – Following the news this morning that the man who killed Trayvon Martin in Florida was attempting to auction off the gun he used to kill Trayvon, Lucy McBath released the statement below. Lucy’s son, Jordan Davis, was killed in November 2012 at a Florida gas station during an argument over loud music. The shooter used Florida’s dangerous ‘Stand Your Ground’ law as his defense.

STATEMENT FROM LUCY MCBATH, FAITH AND OUTREACH LEADER FOR EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY AND MOTHER OF SLAIN TEEN JORDAN DAVIS, WHO WAS SHOT AND KILLED AT A FLORIDA GAS STATION IN NOVEMBER 2012 DURING AN ARGUMENT OVER LOUD MUSIC

“I am deeply disappointed that the man who killed Trayvon Martin is trying to sell the very gun he used to cut that precious life short to raise money. But what’s even sadder is that this deplorable lack of value for human life is espoused not only by him – but also by the gun lobby that has created and continues to push for laws that allow people like him to shoot first and ask questions later. Florida’s dangerous Stand Your Ground law was the defense used in Trayvon’s murder and in the murder of my dear son, Jordan Davis. And it’s the same kind of legislation that NRA-backed legislators in Missouri brought up again recently – and that the gun lobby continues to push for in states across the country, including in Florida where they are still trying to expand the law. It’s time we stand up to this dangerous thinking – as I know from firsthand experience, the lives of our children and the safety of our communities
depends on it.”

Everytown for Gun Safety research has shown that states with Stand Your Ground laws have, on average, experienced a 53 percent increase in homicides deemed justifiable in the years following passage of the law, compared with a five percent decrease in states without Stand Your Ground statutes during the same period. And after Florida passed its Stand Your Ground law, the “justifiable homicide” rate tripled. Additionally, a 2012 study by researchers at Texas A&M found that Stand Your Ground laws are associated with a clear increase in homicides, resulting in 600 more homicides nationwide each year.

The Urban Institute also examined racial disparities in justified gun homicide rulings that involve a single shooter and victim who are strangers. The researchers found that when white shooters kill black victims, 34% of the resulting homicides are deemed justifiable, while only 3.3% of deaths are ruled justifiable when the shooter is black and the victim is white.