Step 1: Concealed weapons. Step 2: License to kill.

The License to Kill law, which we mentioned here in February, is finally beginning to attract some attention. Unfortunately, it comes after a number of states have already passed it.

Paul Soglin went after it last week, noting that the law had made it open season on shooting people in Orlando and other Florida cities.

The NY Times also wrote about it recently:

In the last year, 15 states have enacted laws that expand the right of self-defense, allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations that might formerly have subjected them to prosecution for murder.

A couple of examples:

Jason Rosenbloom was shot twice during a dispute over how many garbage bags Mr. Rosenbloom had put out. The shooter was not arrested.

Jacqueline Galas, a Florida prostitute, shot and killed a 72-year-old client with her own gun rather than run away from him. She was not charged.

Supporters call them “stand your ground” laws. Opponents call them “shoot first” laws.

And The Gun Guys call them License to Murder laws:

Let’s make this clear: this law is not about self-defense. The NRA wants you to think it is, but even without this law, every American has the right to defend themselves, with deadly force if necessary. This law has nothing at all to do with that.

The License to Murder law is about widening the definition of self-defense beyond where it’s supposed to go. It changes the criteria for deadly force to something most people would define as “murder.” It says that you can pull a gun and open fire anytime, anywhere you “feel threatened.” And that’s why what License to Murder condones is cold blooded murder....

The NRA is deadset on introducing this law everywhere they can, and they’ve already passed it in fifteen different states. But no matter where you are, License to Murder doesn’t belong on the books. It’s the NRA’s incitement to violence, and it won’t do anything but cause more gun deaths.

Back to the NY Times:

The central innovation in the Florida law, said Anthony J. Sebok, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, is not its elimination of the duty to retreat, which has been eroding nationally through judicial decisions, but in expanding the right to shoot intruders who pose no threat to the occupant’s safety.

“In effect,” Professor Sebok said, “the law allows citizens to kill other citizens in defense of property.”

There is no push to pass the law in Wisconsin -- yet -- because we haven't passed the law allowing people to carry concealed weapons in public places. That's Step One for the NRA, and Wisconsin is one of the last holdouts. If it were to pass, the push for Step Two -- the License to Murder law -- would follow immediately.

Today's NY Times editorial reaffirms that:

Florida’s law is a sick cousin of the work of the gun lobby on Capitol Hill, where it has successfully protected the interstate traffickers of guns used in crimes. And it is the evil twin of laws passed in 38 states that allow concealed weapons. After all, what good is packing heat if it just stays in the holster?

Want to know more or get involved? The Freedom States Alliance is waging a campaign to "change the way America thinks about guns." Check it out.