Nicole Oulson, Chad’s now-widow, counters with the testimony that Chad was texting their babysitter who was supervising their very young daughter so they could go to the movies. She describes Oulson’s exchange with Reeves prior to the shot as merely “a couple of words—no threats, no harm, no nothing.”
Republican lawmaker, Dennis Bradley, co-authored Stand Your Ground with other lawmakers and the aid of NRA President Marion Hammer, and has gone on record stating – in relation to the Oulson shooting – that the legislation was originally passed in the aftermath of consecutive hurricanes. During this period, he references a statistically measurable increase in crime rates that provided the incentive for lawmakers on both sides of the isle to support the bill.
“We had a lot of properties that were open and people living in FEMA trailers,” Braxley explains. He recalls that Stand Your Ground wasn’t controversial legislation at that time due to Floridians nigh-unanimous consensus that they needed to be able to defend themselves against the higher probability of criminal action. “We had bipartisan support. [The vote was] unanimous in the Florida senate. Only twenty people in the Florida house opposed.”
