A gun barrel to the head was enough to convince Sen. Jim King to favor broadening the state's deadly force laws. Another senator on the Criminal Justice Committee also is a believer after twice facing intruders in her bedroom.
The National Rifle Association-backed bill establishes a legal presumption that a home intruder is there to do bodily harm. Any use of deadly force by a homeowner is then justified by definition. The same presumption applies to someone who forcibly enters a car.
In short, if someone breaks into your home or your car, the assumption under the law is that he or she intends to inflict bodily harm upon you. Therefore you are completely justified in defending yourself using deadly force regardless of whether or not the intruder is armed or what his or her intentions really are.
It provides for erring on the side of caution. It also recognizes that, when someone breaks the law and intrudes on your property, thereby violating your rights, they automatically forfeit their right not to be harmed. They have initiated the illegal action, they are responsible for what happens, and they must bear the consequences.
As I understand the law in Washington State, it is much like current Florida law (I need to review my copy of Washington Gun Rights and Responsibilities). You have the legal right to shoot an intruder but there will be an investigation into whether or not it was reasonable for you to believe you were in danger. Shooting the guy as he's climbing back out the window, for example, is not a good idea. I wouldn't advocate doing that in any circumstance, even if it were allowed, but the trick is determining whether or not you really are in danger. In a situation like that, your perception tends to narrow (tunnel vision) and you don't have time to think things through. You don't have the luxury of taking the time to evaluate fully whether or not the intruder presents a threat. By putting the onus on the intruder where it belongs, this new law will protect homeowners who are simply trying to defend themselves as best they can, and can't afford to take any chances.
Florida is an interesting state. On the one hand, it is the state that has its own category on Fark for all the wacky stuff that goes on there. Many of its residents are those that have retired there from the large metropolitan areas of the east such as New York, and probably take the liberal values they grew up among with them. On the other hand, I can apply for a Florida concealed weapon permit which would allow me as a non-resident to carry a concealed pistol if I were to visit the state. And now comes this law which takes the support of law-abiding gun owners to a higher level. Interesting indeed.
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