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While we must admit we are not the judge or jury and not all facts are apparent, these facts we do know:

1)Zimmerman as an neighborhood watcher called in “an suspicious person” to 911 and was told by police “to let us handle this"

2)Zimmerman ignored this and left the safety of his car and followed Martin despite the police telling him not to.

3) Up to this point Martin was unarmed and had done nothing illegal

4)Martin had the same rights to self defense as Zimmerman had.

5) An confrontation ensued between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin was fatally shot.

6) Neither Zimmerman's life nor property nor anyone’s elses life/property were in danger until Zimmerman injected himself into the situation.

7 Neither the Castle doctrine not the Stand Your Ground law allows for the lethal use of firearms where life is not in imminent harm.

If Zimmerman approached Martin under the false guise of an law enforcement officer, Martin had no responsibility to obey anything Zimmerman demanded. Had Zimmerman followed the 911 operator’s instructions to let the police investigate this situation, Martin would still be alive and nobody outside his neighborhood would ever have heard of Zimmerman's name.

I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and of open/concealed carry laws. It is this reason why I strongly condemn the abuse of the right to own and bear arms as it is apparent in this case. IMHO

We who appreciate this precious right must admit to ourselves that not all persons who do carry are not responsible owners. Unless we condemn those who don't we ourselves risk being counted with them as "gun nuts" by anti-gun forces.

Had Zimmerman followed the 911 operator’s instructions to let the police investigate this situation,...

If frogs had wings, they wouldn't bump their butts when they jumped. So please get you facts straight or start a TV show so you can bloviate for pay... The 911 operator gave no such 'Instruction.' And had she, she was not a sworn police officer so what she said to the shooter had all the authority of you telling him what to do or not do.

The fact is an elected neighborhood watch guy investigated suspicious activity on a dark rainy night in his neighborhood, the suspicious guy did not explain his presence but decided to beat the snot out of the guy who questioned him. Apparently he was doing a good job when the shooter became annoyed and ended the beating.

Both of the people involved could have handled the situation better but this outcome is to be expected when the Left fosters resentment between different segments of society. But that is what the Left does to distract you.

You stated some very good points.
Frankly, I agree with all of them.

Whether or not I carry open or concealed, or am myself designated a lethal weapon, I have no legal right to detain or question a stranger in my neighborhood who is just walking down the street.

As I tried to explain this situation to my daughter,I kept referring back to the main point.
That while I have no problem killing another human being in self defense, I also have no right to actively bait another human being into a life or death confrontation.

Zimmermen appears to have clearly baited Martin into a life or death fight/flight/or die situation.
It looks like Martin chose to fight, instead of flight or die.

I taught my child to first and always fight back, flee if she must to preserve life, but to never back down.

“I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and of open/concealed carry laws. It is this reason why I strongly condemn the abuse of the right to own and bear arms as it is apparent in this case. IMHO
We who appreciate this precious right must admit to ourselves that not all persons who do carry are not responsible owners. Unless we condemn those who don’t we ourselves risk being counted with them as “gun nuts” by anti-gun forces. “

You are going to take flak, but you are absolutely correct. If gun right supporters are going to run to defend every nut that fight will be lost. More and more I see utter knee jerk reaction on FR. There will be much on this topic for sure.

When you start out wrong, more than likely the rest of what you say is wrong.
The dispatcher said in response to zimmerman saying he was going to follow the suspicious person was ‘we don’t need you to do that’ is was said in a very casual way. Not even the most radical translation suggests that this was an order.
This means #2 is wrong.
3-doesn’t matter.
4-you are correct but it doesn’t matter
5-you are correct but it doesn’t matter
6-doesn’t matter
7-you are correct but in this case, you are wrong.
So, basically, your position is incorrect as stated.

I teach the legal aspect of a CPL class so I am following this very closely. I do tell people not to engage unless there is a threat to self or loved ones.

What led to the confrontation has little bearing to the actual moment of threat. As long as Zimmerman had the legal right to be where he was, he is covered under castle. In this case, he was legally where he was.