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The civil rights activist group Black Lives Matter was first thrust into the public consciousness in 2012, during its first protest following the killing of a 17-year-old unarmed African-American, Trayvon Martin, who was walking home from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles and a drink when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a white man.

During his trial, Zimmerman cried self-defense, claiming he fired his weapon only after being attacked by Martin, and he skated past murder charges. The verdict sparked outrage and a national race debate in part powered by the creators of Black Lives Matter, after whichthe nonprofit organization would become synonymous with protesting the wrongful deaths of unarmed black people, especially those shot and killed by non-black police officers.

Despite BLMs efforts to bring awareness to the plight of being black in America, as well as advocating for social justice for minorities, the group has faced strong opposition from law enforcement and race-related support groups like Blue Lives Matter and All Lives Matter. In fact, the overall tone toward BLM, which aims to bring an end to the oppression experienced by African-Americans, is unfavorable, according to a new poll.

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The Harvard-Harris survey, released Monday, found only 43 percent of voters have a positive view of BLM, while more than half of voterssome 57 percenthave an unfavorable view of the organization.

Not all that surprisingly, a majority of those who are opposed to the group are white. Only 35 percent of whites feel favorable toward BLM, compared to 65 percent who have a negative view of the group. As for black voters, 83 percent feel positively toward BLM, while only 17 percent dont.

In regard to partisanship, support among Republicans was the lowest21 percentand only 18 percent of Republicans who voted for Trump have a favorable view of BLM. Sixty-five percent of Democrats feel positively toward BLM and 66 percent of Democrats who voted forpresidential nominee Hillary Clinton favor the group.

Although instances of police brutality against black people, including the shooting deaths of a number of unarmed black men, have received a high volume of national attention in recent years, Americans in general dont believe police violence toward African-Americans is the biggest problem in todays society. Seventy percent of voters said black-on-black crime in African-American communities is a bigger issue, while 30 percent feel police violence against African-Americans is a bigger issue.

A majority of Americans do believe police are too quick to use aggressive force56 percentand 64 percent agree that race played a role in the use of aggressive force. However, 44 percent of voters feel cops only use force when necessary, and 36 percent believe race isnt a factor in the use of force.

Fifty-four percent of voters think police are too quick to draw their weapons and shoot at African-Americans, while 46 percent feel police engage with people of all races about the same.

So far in 2017, 581 people have been shot and killed by police officers, according to The Washington Posts Fatal Force Tracker. Of those killed, 127 were black while 241 were white.Last year, 963 people were shot and killed by cops, 465 of whom were white and 233 black.

More than 323 million peoplelive in the U.S., and only 13 percent of them are black. Whites make up 76.9 percent of the population.Meanwhile, over 2.3 million U.S. residents are currently serving sentences in prisons and jails. Forty percent of those people are black, according to criminal justice nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative, while 39 percent are white.

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Majority of Americans Have 'Unfavorable View' of Black Lives Matter, Say Black Crime Is a Top Concern - Newsweek

I begin this column with a caveat: I am not, nor do I pretend to be an attorney familiar with gun laws. Im not even an authority on the subject, but I can push buttons on a keyboard and do a bit of research.

So here goes:

Most people I have asked are not aware Oklahoma has a Castle Doctrine.

Some are aware of stand-your-ground laws.

The two are close in what they outline, though many folks think they simply refer to the right of an individual to protect their own life, their family or their property.

The Castle Doctrine is a common law recognized by 46 states. It designates a persons abode or any place legally occupied, ie., workplace, automobile, etc. as ones castle.

Further, it says an individual has no duty to retreat from such place when confronted with threat of life or bodily harm or loss of property. An individual may use reasonable force, including deadly force, for protection.

Compare this with stand-your-ground laws, recognized by 24 states. Essentially, it indicates that an individual may confront the above threats with deadly force without the obligation to retreat, if 1) the person has a legal right to be at the location, and 2) if the person is not engaged in illegal activity.

Being aware of such laws and going down a checklist prior to shooting an armed intruder are two different animals. One should be aware, and one should think ahead. At the same time, we shouldnt have to live in paranoia. It boils down to the fact that we should all be good citizens and we should be able to trust our state laws.

A young woman defending her home and babies from two intruders a few years ago in rural Oklahoma didnt care about fool laws. She wanted to live unharmed and she wanted her children unharmed. She left one dead, draped over the couch she used to barricade the door. The other was arrested while seeking medical attention for gunshot wounds. Good for her.

No matter what you believe about the case, George Zimmerman would likely have been worse off if he had killed Trayvon Martin in Oklahoma. That is because our stand-your-ground law is not as permissive as that in Florida.

Conversely, Oklahoma City pharmacist Jerome Ersland very likely would have fared better in Florida for the same reason. Here, Ersland was considered a hero for stopping a robbery, until he returned and killed a helpless robber lying wounded on the floor. He received a life sentence for doing that.

You are probably more confused now than when you began this column. The important thing to remember is: Be a good citizen.

In an emergency, fight to control decisions fueled by adrenaline.

Remember, you cant use deadly force unless you have reason to believe your life is threatened or that you may suffer great bodily harm.

You cannot unring a bell. And you cannot unpull a trigger.

Fred Causley is a former OSU Agriculture Communications employee and a longtime Stillwater resident and NRA member. Send him questions or feedback to papacausley@gmail.com.

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TAKING AIM: Castle Doctrine and stand-your -ground laws - Stillwater News Press

In stumping against increased acceptance of concealed carry permits nationwide, gun control advocates tapped in George Zimmermans CWL and a $20 BB gun. (Photo: Everytown)

Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety over the weekend began running a meme showing a Florida state concealed weapon license purportedly owned by George Zimmerman layered over a person with a Marksman air pistol shoved haphazardly into the waistband of their jeans.

Some states have low or no standards for who can carry a concealed weapon in public, says the text over the ad.

The NRAs latest pet policy would make the weakest state gun laws the law of the land, allowing dangerous people to carry concealed guns in every state in the country, said Moms Demand Action in the post urging lawmakers to decline support for a pair of national concealed carry reciprocity bills.

The measures, the H.R. 38 and S.446, respectively, would expand carry rights nationwide, in effect forcing states and local jurisdictions to respect all valid concealed carry permits, a move the advocates feel is a mistake which would lead to a race to the bottom to recognize permits from states with no training requirements and slim vetting.

The groups, backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have retained a big-name Washington, D.C.-based advocacy firm to help with future legislative pushes and has promised to spend as much as $25 million to defeat the push.

Ironically, despite the one-two punch of the meme, Florida once seen as the leader for concealed carry law reform now has one of the more demanding processes in the country to obtain such a permit, especially among other shall-issue states.

Applicants have to prove they have had prior firearms training, pay as much as $112 in fingerprinting, licensing and convenience fees for initial licenses, and wait up to 90 days for a permit. The state denied 6,470 licenses in the year between July 2016-June 2017, about half for incomplete documentation, and half for ineligible applicants.

Further, Florida law prohibits both concealed carry without a license and open carry altogether except under narrow circumstances. By comparison, licenses in neighboring Georgia and Alabama are both generally cheaper and do not require training. Meanwhile, at least a dozen states, including Mississippi just an hour away from the West Florida line have adopted permitless carry laws, and 45 states allow for open carry.

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Gun control groups cite Zimmerman as reason to block national reciprocity - Guns.com

Morgan & Morgan, one of Orlandos biggest law firms, is partnering with civil-rights attorney Ben Crump to launch a new firm, Ben Crump Law PLLC.

Crump represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Corey Jones, and Tamir Rice black males who were gunned down in high-profile incidents that sparked anger and protest.

John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, called Crump a modern-day Johnnie Cochran in the announcement of the new firm.

Martins shooter, George Zimmerman, beat a charge of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting. At the time, Crump was credited with bringing about the charges against Zimmerman. He said in 2013 that the Martin case was very personal to many people. And that's why the whole world is watching this case. You cannot have people kill unarmed teenagers walking home legally."

Crump's new firm will have offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Tallahassee, where he is based half the year. It will focus on civil rights, personal injury, workers' compensation, medical malpractice, mesothelioma and class actions.

Morgan & Morgan has 350 attorneys and a support staff of 1,500, one of the largest plaintiff firms in the U.S. With those resources, Crump is expected to take on cases nationwide. The firm pledged a 24-hour response time for new clients.

Among numerous recognitions, Crump has been named to the National Trial Lawyers' Top 100 Lawyers and Ebony magazine's 100 Most Influential African-Americans.

Crump, 47, went to Florida State University for undergraduate and law degrees, according to his bio. He was admitted to the practice of law in 1996.

He was the first black president of the Federal Bar Association for the Northern District of Florida and was the first black chairman of the Florida State University College of Law Board of Directors.

Got a news tip? pbrinkmann@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5660; Twitter, @PaulBrinkmann

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Morgan & Morgan helps launch new firm for Ben Crump - Orlando Sentinel

Family and friends of Justine Damond gathered for a vigil in Sydney, Australia, on July 19. Damond died after being shot by Minneapolis police.

In life, Justine Damond was a yoga instructor. In death, she is a Rorschach test.

Earlier this month, Minneapolis police responded to Damonds emergency call about a possible sexual assault and ended up killing her. To a lawyer representing her family, she is the most innocent victim of any police shooting he has ever seen. In Damonds native Australia, politicians and citizens see her fate as further proof of American lawlessness so unchecked that even the police are as much predators as protectors.

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Right-wing media highlight the accused officers ethnicity he is a Somali-American and proclaim him an emblem of the failings of political correctness. And for those who have watched the killings of people of color treated with indifference and victim-blaming excuses, Damonds death reinforces what they already knew that a white woman will be afforded compassion, a presumption of virtue, and official recourse that no black or brown man, woman, or child killed by a police officer would ever receive.

Yet lost in this maelstrom is any meaningful discussion of how yet another person who called 911 ended up getting shot to death by a police officer who was initially sent to help.

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On Wednesday, as the controversy over Damonds death spiraled, acting Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo ordered all officers to activate their body cameras in response to every traffic stop, call, or self-initiated response. When Damond was killed, both officers Mohamed Noor, who fired the fatal shot, and Matthew Harrity had their body cams turned off. Harrity said he and Noor were startled by a loud sound just before Noor shot Damond.

Choosing to obey a police officer is never a guarantee that a person of color wont still be shot dead by a cop.

While concrete changes after police shootings usually occur at a glacial pace, if at all, this is the second major departmental shift since Damonds death. Less than a week after the killing, Police Chief Jane Harteau resigned, and Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement, she had lost confidence in the Chiefs ability to lead us further.

Hodges suffered no such loss of confidence in Harteau after police shot Jamar Clark, an African-American man, to death in November 2015. Neither officer involved in Clarks killing was indicted.

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Its too early to know if Noor will be charged in Damonds death, but one thing is already clear: He isnt receiving the kind of lavish support conservatives usually bestow on police officers. Thats because this police shooting calls forth an ancient but omnipresent white American fear the killing of a white woman by a black man.

Fox News, which rarely questions the actions of police officers, referred to Noor as an Somali immigrant cop. For no obvious reason, the same story mentioned that the Noor spoke Somali at home, as if thats a clue into what happened the night Damond died. This is the same channel that tried to make Trayvon Martins hoodie as complicit in his own killing as shooter George Zimmerman.

Other right-wing outlets hoping to inflame already agitated emotions about immigration and Islam call Noor a Muslim cop. Former Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann branded the officer, the precincts first Somali-American, as an affirmative-action hire and cryptically wondered if Damond was killed for cultural reasons. Whatever that means. Even Noors police union has been relatively quiet, instead of defending a fellow officer.

As the investigation into Damonds death continues, its international multi-story narrative has almost overgrown the initial incident.

Of course, there was far less widespread attention a month earlier when Seattle police shot to death Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of four struggling with mental health issues, after she reported a burglary. Or the case of Ismael Lopez in Mississippi, shot dead last Sunday by police who mistakenly went to his home to serve a warrant meant for his neighbor.

Yet the best we can get are cursory conversations about improving police training. Last year police killed more than 950 people. Whether or not juries recognize it, not every shooting is justified. Systemic failings in police training nationwide create antagonistic community relationships in which citizens fear police and police arrive expecting the worst and respond with lethal force as the only option.

Damonds death is a tragedy, but no more so than that of anyone else inexplicably killed by police. The only difference is that Damond was a white woman. Beyond that, were left with the same vexing questions, but already know this much is true: Innocent citizens of every race and gender will continue to die because, when police officers are trained to be hammers, everything around them looks like a nail.

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A nation of nails, policed by hammers - The Boston Globe