The New York Times: Second Thoughts on Neighborhood Watches

By The Editorial Board

November 6, 2013

Far too late to save the life of Trayvon Martin, the community of Sanford, Fla., where Mr. Martin was shot to death last year by a roaming neighborhood watch volunteer, is wisely changing course and banning civilians from packing firearms on future citizen patrols.

The lethal folly of allowing armed volunteers to strut about, largely unsupervised, in the name of neighborhood protection was laid bare in the tragic death of Mr. Martin, an unarmed teenager who was walking home from a store errand. George Zimmerman, a watch volunteer who decided the teenager was a suspicious presence in the neighborhood, ignored a telephoned caution from the police and tracked Mr. Martin to the point of a deadly confrontation. Mr. Zimmerman was eventually found not guilty of second degree murder. He and his attorneys had argued that Mr. Martin tried to seize his handgun and was fatally shot in a struggle.  Read more: