Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence President Dan Gross states, "Florida's law gun laws make it easy for dangerous people like George Zimmerman to buy and carry guns."
A Florida judge set a $5,000 bond for George Zimmerman on January 10 and ordered him to surrender his firearms as a consequence of his January 9 arrest for aggravated assault – domestic violence with a weapon.
According to Don West, Zimmerman's attorney, his client threw a wine bottle in his girlfriend’s direction during the incident, which occurred in her Volusia County home. Seminole County Judge Donna McIntosh prohibited Zimmerman from contacting the victim, or entering Volusia County, and ordered him to surrender all firearms by January 13.
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence President Dan Gross stated:
“George Zimmerman is a poster boy for our campaign to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, including domestic abusers. Zimmerman had a gun the night he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and the State of Florida allowed him to carry it anywhere despite an arrest record and a violent history. He would have been denied a permit in any state where law enforcement has reasonable discretion.
“We applaud the Florida judge’s responsible decision to order George Zimmerman to finally surrender his firearms, although Florida should never have permitted him to carry concealed weapons despite his arrest record and violent history before he shot Trayvon Martin, and even after his subsequent arrests in incidents of reported domestic violence.
“Florida’s lax gun laws make it easy for dangerous people like Zimmerman to buy and carry guns. Here’s why. Florida is where the national gun lobby, which exercises a strong grip on the reigns of the state legislature there, has made ‘the Gunshine State’ a test lab for lax laws that let dangerous people, including domestic abusers, easily buy and carry guns. So it’s no wonder that terrible stuff happens there.
“Together, we can make Florida legislators listen to their constituents, do more to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people like George Zimmerman, and stop being lap dogs for the corporate gun lobby.”
This was Zimmerman’s third arrest in recent years.
In November 2013, deputies sped to the Apopka, Florida home of Zimmerman’s girlfriend Samantha Schiebe when she called 911 to report domestic abuse. “You put your gun in my freakin' face!” Scheibe yelled at Zimmerman during the 911 call. “Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house. Please get out of my house.”
When the deputies arrived, they found Schiebe locked out and Zimmerman barricaded inside, where he had smashed her coffee table. He then surrendered to the deputies, who took a .380-caliber handgun, a 9-mm handgun, a Glock 19 handgun, a Kel-Tec 12-gauge shotgun, and an AR-15 assault-style rifle that belonged to Zimmerman. He was charged with domestic violence, aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief. However, Florida prosecutors dropped the charges and returned Zimmerman’s guns when Schiebe later recanted her statements on the 911 call.
Two months before, Zimmerman had been involved in a dispute with his estranged wife Shellie, days after she filed for divorce. She also called 911 to report that Zimmerman was threatening her and her family. She initially reported that he had smashed her iPad and that he had a gun, but later said that he was unarmed.
In September 2014, George Zimmerman threatened to kill a driver during a road rage incident in Lake Mary, Florida, and later showed up at the man's workplace, according to police.
When the driver called 911 to report the incident, he stated that Zimmerman, who was carrying a gun, asked, "Do you know who I am?" before saying, "I'll (f***ing) kill you." However, since the driver declined to press charges, Zimmerman was not arrested.
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Disclosure: I am Chief Communications Officer for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence