George Zimmerman, the man who was tried and later released by a U.S. court for the death of 17-year-old African-American boy Trayvon Martin in 2012 has put the gun he used to kill the boy on auction. The gun was recently returned to him by the U.S. Department of Justice and is operational, he said.
The death of Martin in 2012 had led to debate and protests on racism and gun violence in the U.S. Martin was unarmed when he was shot by Zimmerman. U.S. President Barack Obama has attempted to legislate a stricter policy for gun control in the country in the wake of the incident.
"The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012 [sic]," the description of the product says on the website Gunbroker.com, where Zimmerman has put it up for auction. "Many have expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm including The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. This is a piece of American History. It has been featured in several publications and in current University text books [sic]," it says.
Zimmerman said the attempt to make the gun inoperable by "Department of Justice on behalf of B. Hussein Obama [sic]" was countered by his "phenomenal defense attorney [sic]."
Martin's family was quoted as saying by the Washington Post in a statement: "The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States. This election season, we are laser-focused on furthering that mission. As such, the foundation has no comment on the actions of that person."
In another incident of racism, which had sparked massive violent protests in the U.S., 18-year-old Michael Brown was reportedly shot dead by policeman Darren Wilson in 2014. Wilson was later released as it was found that he had not violated civil rights.
Highlighting the danger around easy access to guns in the country, the Washington Post had reported that at least 23 people were shot by toddlers in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and May 1 in 2016.
Obama, in a speech on gun control in January 2016, had shed tears while expressing his outrage at the deaths of Columbine and Newtown and college students in Blacksburg and Santa Barbara — locations where mass shootings took place.
