Self-Defense and the Wisdom of the Law

Looking back only a few months, I love it that millions more of us are now armed. You may have bought a gun last month, but we’ve lived with firearms for several centuries. We’ve had crazy and violent people in society even longer. It is true that the latest surge of drug addicts and the mentally ill on our streets has increased the level of violence. The truth is that we were never “safe.” Our laws have grown up with armed defense. The world isn’t simple and we know that evil men claim virtue once they are caught. We also know that honest men make mistakes. Many of our laws were crafted to sort the good from the bad. I report on civilian self-defense, so let me show you how this can play out.

The best case happens most of the time. Grandma was at home in the evening. She had her outside doors locked so she heard the bad guy break in through her side door. She reached into her knitting bag and put her gun in her lap. She tapped her phone and pressed the emergency button. The lights in her home were on and grandma shouted, Get out. I’m armed and I’ve called the police. Bad guys usually run away when they find out we’re armed. Getting shot wasn’t the home invasion they planned so the burglar looks for an easier victim. The police report probably didn’t mention the presence of a firearm since grandma didn’t press the trigger.

Note that grandma acted to protect herself first. Once she had the means of defense, she immediately asked for help. She announced that she was armed and told her attacker to go away. On the use of force continuum, she made her presence known. She gave clear verbal commands to try and diffuse the situation. Because of her age and physical condition, grandma did not think she could safely retreat. She did not face an immediate, lethal, and unavoidable threat so she didn’t press the trigger. If she needs one at all, grandma’s lawyer has an easy time keeping her out of jail.

Sometimes words are not enough. Sometimes we have to use violence even though we’ve tried every alternative. Pulling events from the news stories, we’ve seen criminals break into occupied homes at night. The homeowners heard the breaking wood and shattering glass. They got up and grabbed their firearms. They turned on the lights, then moved to the top of the stairs to protect their kids down the hall. The couple shouted, Go away! We’re armed and we’ve called the cops. Their daughter down the hall heard the shouts. She locked her bedroom door and called 911 on her cell phone. The couple saw a stranger climbing the stairs. The intruder tried to push past the male homeowner. The female homeowner shot the intruder. She stopped shooting when the attacker fell down the stairs. From a position of concealment, the male homeowner presented his firearm. The female homeowner went to check on their children. She called 911 as well and stayed on the call until the police knocked on the door.

This defense is not best practice, but it illustrates important points. Like the earlier example, these defenders turned on the lights so they could identify an intruder. They shouted that the home was occupied. Unlike grandma, these defenders climbed the continuum of force and tried to push the intruder down the stairs. Only when the intruder advanced so he could not be contained on the stairs did the defenders resort to using lethal force. They stopped using force when the threat stopped. They sought help as soon as they could.

We can invent horrible situations where a gun owner could misuse the claim of self-defense. Fortunately, that rarely happens and for good reason.

You can claim that you were justified in shooting a co-ed who walked into your home and then passed out drunk on your floor. All the claims of castle doctrine, stand your ground laws, and self-defense won’t be enough to help you in a court of law. The law and a jury can usually tell the difference.

We can invent stories of abuse, but all the gun owners I’ve met felt the moral weight of the gun. The good news is that the law usually recognizes that it can make mistakes on either side. We want to use lethal force only when it is the safest thing to do. We also want to use lethal force in time so that we stop the loss of innocent life.

The law does make mistakes and prosecute an honest defender. Also, some people deliberately abuse the law to shakedown the honest defender for money. Buy insurance to cover those frivolous lawsuits.

If you’re a new gun owner then you probably have some studying to do. You are not alone, and millions of us have walked that same path.

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I am not a lawyer. I simply collect evidence of armed defense. I gave you 800 words for free. Share them with a friend, and please leave a rating and a comment. RM