Florida gun show special guest: A murderer

You remember George Zimmerman, right? The man who shot and killed an unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, a few years back?

Excuse us, Martin was armed that night. With Skittles and iced tea. We digress.
Anyway, Zimmerman recently thought it would be a good idea to agree to appear as a special guest at the New Orlando Gun Show in Florida.

He signed a few autographs — between 20 and 200, depending on which news source you believe — shook a few hands and went about his day.

Unfortunately, as benign as this gun show appearance might have been for Zimmerman, it carries more weight than most would like to acknowledge.
Zimmerman, a man who shot and killed an unarmed teenager and got away with it, was invited as a special guest to a gun show.

It was offensive and distasteful on several levels, so it is difficult to choose where to start.

It seems no one thought about how treating Zimmerman as a celebrity would affect Trayvon Martin’s family.

It must be unimaginably hard for his parents, family and friends to see Zimmerman parading about in public, being treated as a celebrity after he murdered their son, their nephew, their best friend.

It says something about our society that a known murderer has been elevated to a kind of warped “celebrity” status.

Zimmerman’s fame comes from nothing but his decision to shoot an unarmed black teenager and his luck in getting away with it.

It’s hard to understand why any gun-rights activists are OK with making Zimmerman the poster child for the freedom to carry a weapon.

He is not the most likable character, and he has not proven himself to be a responsible gun owner.

If the message of the pro-gun rights community is to allow more people to own guns because they use them in self-defense and act responsibly and prudently, Zimmerman should be the last person they would turn to for support. However, since they insist on keeping him around, their message must be something less responsible and more reckless.

The only reasonable explanation for Zimmerman’s appearance at this gun show is he was offered compensation to do so.

If that is the case, it makes sense that he willingly took the money to participate in this event, given the millions of dollars in legal fees he still owes.

But even if Zimmerman is in debt, it does not excuse this behavior. There are other less offensive ways for him to make money to pay off his debts.

Monetizing peoples’ racism and gun lust is no way to exist in the world, especially when doing so actively hurts those who know someone who was a victim of gun violence.

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