The opposition to stand your ground laws which popped up following the Trayvon Martin shooting remains somewhat vocal, but it’s growing weaker by the day. In large part this is due to the fact that many of the most recent opponents of stand your ground laws–folks who jumped on the anti-gun bandwagon once it became popular to do so–were former supporters of stand your ground legislation in their various roles as lawmakers.
Case in point–Democrat Ted Vick, a South Carolina house member who’s now seeking a Congressional seat in that state’s newly created 7th District. Vick recently took a position against stand your ground laws on MSNBC’s Ed Shultz show, when he painted the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as extremists for supporting the legislation.
The key exchange between Shultz and Vick:
Shultz: You think ALEC has done damage to the country with some of the radical legislation they’ve pushed and gotten through like Stand Your Ground.
Vick: Well I think extremism … on the right side has definitely done damage.
Hmmm… As coy as Vick’s response may appear on the surface, it actually represents hypocrisy at a sickening level. And that’s because Vick not only supported stand your ground legislation in South Carolina, he but actually co-sponsored South Carolina’s stand your ground law during the 2005/2006 legislative session.
It looks like Vick joins a growing number of Democrats who hope their constituents have short memories. But the bottom line is that Vick was for ‘stand your ground’ laws before he was against them.
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