I could have been Trayvon...

I could have been Trayvon Martin, sadly I could have just have easily been George Zimmerman. It is the very nature of men that I feel is at the root of this whole sad incident, not hate or race, and I feel that any man among us could have had this tragedy befall us.

From either side of the gun.

You see, I think if you strip down all the guessing games over motives, what kind of people each of these men were and if you ignore all the hype the media circus placed on the event, you'll find two guys that wouldn't back down in a bad situation that ultimately ended in the useless death of an American male.

No matter if it was fear for the neighborhood or hate that drove Zimmerman in his dogged pursuit and confrontation of young Trayvon, it is clear that the two had a confrontation that neither would, or possibly could, back down from.  Zimmerman followed and confronted Trayvon and the two had a verbal altercation that came to blows.

How many times does that happen to any man? I know its happened more times in my life than I am really proud to admit. Some jackleg has an axe to grind with you and just won't let it go, so he keeps pushing at you until you snap back at him. Next thing you know you're jawing back and forth then someone throws the first blow. From there it can go any way, you fight to a standstill or until someone can't fight back. Maybe someone shows up and separates you, maybe one of you runs off.

What if one of you has a gun?

What if one of you has a gun, a temper and you're so full of adrenaline that there is no thought other than pull the gun then squeeze the trigger?

Is it worth it? For either of you?

Most men, in our hearts, are Alphas and have a hard time backing down, turning the other cheek or losing face by not "manning up" or "keeping it real".   Where I think we fail is not knowing ourselves well enough to check our Alpha before we make a mistake that there is no coming back from.

I am not a gun control nut, but I don't carry a gun either. I won't carry a gun. Because I have learned, after many hard lessons, that I simply can't control my anger in some situations. I have had more fights, yelling matches and the like in my life than I even remember and of the ones I do recall only one of those other men deserved to die(child abuser and wife beater caught in the act), but how many of those would my out of control anger caused me to kill if I had the option ready at hand?

How many of those times would I have been killed had my adversary been carrying a firearm?  

I shudder to think.

What if both men had guns? Would this have been a senseless double slaying, could it a turned out the other way around and Trayvon been the killer that night?

When you assume the responsibility of a firearm, I feel you also must assume the responsibility of yourself and must hold yourself above the standards of others. I am not saying you should not be willing to use the gun when truly needed or that no man does not have the right to carry a weapon if he so chooses, but rather you have to be your own master and control the situations you allow yourself into when you carry death in your pocket.

Ultimately, I feel George Zimmerman was at fault and in the wrong. Not for his pursuit and confronting young Trayvon(regardless of motive), but in not being responsible enough as a legal gun carrying citizen to walk away from a situation before it could escalate to that moment of either ultimate decision or fatal reaction, and by all accounts I have heard, he had that opportunity.

Maybe his Alpha instincts had him and he couldn't walk away or at the very least follow at a distance not to invite confrontation, but that is the nature of being a man.

That's why I could have been George Zimmerman.

That's why I could have been Trayvon Martin.