Legally defending your own home
I hadn’t really thought too much about the “Castle Defense” or “stand your ground” laws, those giving the legal right to defend one’s home against an intruder - to include lethal force - until I saw a liberal blog complaining about it. Of course, if the liberals are complaining about it, it must be good!
According to this story, 15 states have enacted such laws. They are all a little different from one another, but here’s a synopsis of the Florida law, per the NRA:
One: It establishes, in law, the presumption that a criminal who forcibly enters or intrudes into your home or occupied vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm, so the occupant may use force, including deadly force, against that person.
Two: It removes the “duty to retreat” if you are attacked in any place you have a right to be. You no longer have to turn your back on a criminal and try to run when attacked. Instead, you may stand your ground and fight back, meeting force with force, including deadly force, if you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to yourself or others.
Three: It provides that persons using force authorized by law shall not be prosecuted for using such force. It also prohibits criminals and their families from suing victims for injuring or killing the criminals who have attacked them. In short, it gives rights back to law-abiding people and forces judges and prosecutors to focus on protecting victims.
Opponents of the laws say that if there are no other witnesses to the incident, the homeowner could simply claim self-defense, even if the person killed was not there to commit criminal acts. From a news story about the Arizona laws:
Critics said a person might get away with murder in a household dispute, for example, because the victim wouldn’t be around to defend himself or explain why he was in the home.
The story continues:
The new law also includes a “castle doctrine” that gives Arizonans authority to use physical or deadly force to protect themselves against intruders if they believe they’re “in imminent peril of death or serious physical injury.” There is no duty to retreat first.Similar “stand-your-ground” laws are being considered in roughly two dozen states this year. The trend began in Florida last year, where lawmakers passed a measure that strengthened people’s rights to defend themselves in their homes, cars or other places they have a right to be.
Despite the criticisms, I’m having a hard time finding fault in this law. I agree, if someone breaks into my home, I have to believe he/she/it is there to cause harm to my family - and that deserves a .45-caliber slug to the cranium. I don’t want to have to ask him nicely to leave.
As far as standing my ground, my father told me when I was a kid - “I don’t want you starting fights, but if someone’s picking on you and you can’t avoid a fight, I want you to beat the tar out of him. I guarantee, he’ll never mess with you again.”
You know, he was right.
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