Bill Cosby has weighed in on the Trayvon Martin case.

The famed comedian told the Washington Times that neighborhood watch volunteers like George Zimmerman, who shot and killed the unarmed black teenager, should not be allowed to carry guns.

"We've got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch," Cosby said in his first public remarks about the case, published today.

"Without a gun, I don't see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself," Cosby added. "The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations.

"When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody."

"The Cosby Show" star's remarks were immediately circulated on the Web, including conservative sites that took issue with Cosby's pinpointing "the gun" as the problem.

Cosby steered clear of mentioning race in a case that has sparked allegations of racism and a nationwide outcry for justice. In the past, however, he has been unafraid to jump into the fray and has even caused controversy of his own.

In the late 1980s, Cosby inserted himself into the case of Tawana Brawley, a black teenage girl who said she was sexually assaulted by six white men, including a police officer and an assistant district attorney. Cosby pledged his public support to her and contributed to a $25,000 reward for information in the case.

"Bill and I don't care who the perpetrators are, whether they're black, white, pink, yellow or family. They should be caught," Essence magazine publisher Edward Lewis, who also contributed to the reward, told People at the time.

A grand jury later found insufficient evidence of a rape, and Brawley and her advisers -- including Rev. Al Sharpton, who was thrust into the spotlight -- were successfully sued for defamation. The incident inflamed racial tension nationwide.

Nearly two decades later, Cosby stirred racial tension, this time within the black community. During a 2004 NAACP celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education school-desegregation decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Cosby upbraided poor black parents for buying their children expensive sneakers but not teaching them proper English.

"These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around," Cosby said at the event.

"I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk," Cosby continued. "And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth."

After his comments sparked a nationwide debate, Cosby said in a statement that he meant for his remarks to be a call to action.

"I feel that I can no longer remain silent," he said. "If I have to make a choice between keeping quiet so that conservative media does not speak negatively or ringing the bell to galvanize those who want change in the lower economic community, then I choose to be a bell ringer."

Since then, Cosby, who has a doctorate degree in education, has continued to espouse responsible parenting, the importance of good education and personal accountability.

"Stand up and stop looking for somebody to blame," he told an audience of community association leaders in 2008.

I have to agree with Cos on this matter.

he's always been a very smart man...

I havent disagreed with much that I have heard from Cosby. I think he is a smart and experienced man.

Hats off to Bill Cosby, his wife Camille, and his five, FIVE, five, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 children.








(a point to the first person who knows what the hell i am talking about)

No the gun wasn't the problem.......a person in a place doing something that seems suspicious is a problem......carrying the gun in a peaceful situation is a problem(which wasn't the case)......following someone you were told not to for safety reasons is a problem......one attacking another is a problem.....I do not see where the gun did anything wrong in this situation.....did it load itself? did it pull its own trigger.....a gun is an inanimate object until an individual activates it......he protected himself from an attack....its very sad he was attacked....but let us think that a person would be dead in this situation period even if he hadn't had the gun and that would be a shame too......there are all sorts of problems with this story.......bet it wouldn't have as much media attention if Zimmerman was dead from head wounds from Treyvon beating him to death now would it??

nope, hand to hand gives people a bit more of a chance, and it would be a clearer case of 'excessive' force because an expectation of retreat would be reasonable,,,,

a gun in unstable hands is as unwise as a gun in untrained hands

Seems to me the gun did its job. Stopped a violent attacker.

Martin had an opportunity to stop attacking when the neighbor came out, he did not take it. A violent attacker who will not stop needs to be stopped by any means necessary.

So what you are saying here is that I am wrong you are right.........and my way of thinking is misconstrued....glad to know where you are coming from just for future reference because I guess its the guns fault........do you know that his hands were untrained?? Do you say hand to hand is always even and justified......so someone without a chance at hand to hand has no right to protect themselves with weaponry?? I see.......................shaking head as walks away in that direction ---------------->

When a person is deeply committed to an irrational position there is no talking them out of it.

I can guarantee anyone who finds themselves back to the ground, with a violent attacker beating their head into the ground will think twice about having a weapon if they ever get the chance. Sadly if a person will not stop attacking, you will never get the chance, once you are in such a compromised position there is not much you can do. Especially once you have already sustained a head wound and possible concussion. Some people die from a single hit to the head, hours later they get a clot that kills, or brain bleed. Its just not funny.

This is assuming of course the narrative by Zimmerman, without all the facts no such conclusions should be reached, that includes Bill Cosby.

"We've got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch," Cosby said in his first public remarks about the case, published today.

"Without a gun, I don't see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself," Cosby added. "The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations".
The power of the gun is intended to make criminals think twice before the rob or mug someone. That is exactly why Mr. Zimmerman will not be charged. This story has sent a loud message to anyone with crime on the mind. That is, think twice before you do something that might get you shot or,like Trevon, killed. Too bad Trevon did not think before he acted.

Cosby, like Sharpton has done, should sit down and shut the ---- up!.

the post didnt reference you or being 'wrong'

the post was my opinion just as all posts here are the posters opinion

I know that zimmerman was UNSTABLE, from his past history,,,in terms of ability to CONTROL HIMSELF PHYSICALLY

hand to hand is MORE even than hand to gun,, there is a FAIR chance to disengage and RUN Away,, than there is from a bullet,,,

someone who has a chance with HAND to HAND COULD BE.,..using excessive force if they use a bullet instead depending upon circumstances,,,yes

yes, I can guarantee that if the ATTACKER was the one with the weapon, and you get them on the ground, you are going to fight for your life to disable their ability to use the GUN,,,,


if the person has a gun, you may not feel a chance to do anything BUT continue fighting until the gun is out of the equation,,,

assuming Zimmermans narrative is correct, he acted in a reckless way which CREATED a situation where he ended up shooting someone dead who was possibly JUSTIFIED in their physical response to his initial pursuit and confrontation (with a gun)

this is ignorance,, what risk did Zimmerman have of being robbed or mugged traveling to the store in his car

he acted 'suspiciously' and recklessly and someone is now dead,,too bad ZIMMERMAN (the adult)didnt think before HE acted,,,

There is 0 evidence to show that Martin knew about the weapon prior to the assault.

he didnt need to know prior, once someone has followed me in a car, and then ON FOOT, and then approaches me menacingly and either reaches for me or (a gun?) their wasteband,,I have the right (especially in florida) to stand my ground and fight

once the fight starts, its reasonable to figure that I could then realize there was a gun involved, possibly because the person following and confronting me would now be reaching for it ,,,,

and then I have every right to continue to 'stand my ground' to fight until he can no longer use the gun on me,,,,

So you have evidence of this occurring before the altercation?

you have evidence against it?

is that less likely to you than the story that a young man who was (while zimmerman was on the phone) changing direction and running to LOSE zimmerman suddenly changed his mind and just followed him towards his car?

is it less likely than the story Zimmerman claimed occurring in less than a two minute time frame ? Have you seen an outline of the AREA in question,,where Zimmerman is supposedly a watchperson?

there are only three streets there, why would he have to go to 'look' at a street sign


,,,its just not the likeliest scenario to me,, if it is to you,, so be it

seems more likely that a grown man who had gone through the trouble and been so convinced of someones criminality that they would INTERRUPT their plans to the store, follow someone in a car, call emergency, follow them on foot, and complain about how they always get away,,,

decided to continue following and confront this young man,,,,the timeline of the call to Martins girlfriend also matches her account of what happened closely enough that it seems more reasonable Zimmerman continued to walk BEHIND Martin who simply turned around and asked him why he was following him,,,,


,

That is not how the law works.

You do not get to make the facts up as you go along.

stand your ground is not a law I made up

but if I am being followed by a stranger, first by vehicle

and I try to put distance between us by changing directions and running and he STILL continues to follow me,, this time on foot

no law says I cant ask him why he is following me, and if he makes a physical advance,, the stand your ground law allows for me to use physical force to defend myself instead of having to CONTINUE Trying to retreat, something which I have already tried to do once or twice at that point,,,,