“or conversely, if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog”
Except, of course, he couldn’t find TM and headed back to his vehicle.
When TM approached him, according to GZ the conversation went:
TM: “Do you have a problem with me?”
GZ: “No.”
TM: “You do now (possible expletive)!” *punch*
It’s rather difficult for me to see that GZ didn’t act as he should have in that exchange. He was asked a question, answered it in a distinctly non-confrontational way, and then was feloniously assaulted.
I guess I would say that the shooting might have been avoidable if GZ were a skilled martial artist. By the way, I recommend hand to hand training to anyone, and especially if you want to carry. It sounds paradoxical, but this altercation shows the reason very clearly. In our society, we can’t just draw whenever we feel “threatened”. So, your potential assailant may be quite close before you know you need to draw. So, it’s best to have a real strategy in mind to open up some space in order to access your weapon without interference.
A quick sidekick to a kneecap works nicely, and may completely end the threat in itself. At least you can probably run away faster than your assailant can follow. ;-)
I agree with your take on how things went.
I would only add that I think during the struggle, in which Martin was astride a prone Zimmerman, Martin realized a gun was in Zimmerman’s waistband and went for it.
At that point it was no longer fisticuffs, but became a life or death struggle, and all academic discussion of what might have been, evaporated forever.