Shooting Someone Is Almost Never Legal

I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or a disturbing cultural trend, but lately a lot of people are shooting people for really stupid reasons. There’s a guy in Kansas City who allegedly shot a teenager for ringing his door , a man in Florida who reportedly opened fire on a six-year-old for chasing a ball on his lawn , a guy in New York who, seems to have killed a woman for turning in his driveway , and probably three other shootings that happened as I wrote this article.

In all of these incidents, the victims were reported to have stepped on the property of the accused shooters, leading to the question of whether the shooters would have any protection under the law if they ended up claiming they were protecting themselves or their property.

The laws regarding the self-defense of your person and property are complex and vary from state to state, but if these incidents happened as reported, all the perpetrators are likely to be in big trouble. It seems doubtful that self-defense, the “castle doctrine” or any other “get rid of the crime” defense applies because, simply put, you can’t shoot people just because they’re on your property.

“But when can I shoot someone?” – you ask. Well, you’re a maniac, almost never. In general, the only time you can shoot someone is if you have a reasonable fear that they will kill or seriously injure you, or if they have broken into your home.

How self-defense and “stand your ground” laws work

Both state and federal laws allow you to use force or violence in self-defense under certain circumstances. Broadly speaking, you can legally use violence or force when faced with what a reasonable person would consider an imminent threat, as long as the force is proportionate to the threat.

It is considered to “stand your ground” and is either written into law or supported by legal precedent in most US states, although in some of them citizens are expected to attempt to escape before using lethal force.

Conceptually, standing your ground is easy, but in practice, the nuances of violent human interactions give rise to so many interpretations of the words “reasonable,” “imminent,” “threat,” and “proportionate” that lawyers who understand it often buy expensive boats. Critics point out that the basic laws are inherently flawed because a one-on-one interaction that ends in a deadly shooting doesn’t give the dead person a chance to make their case. But, whether they are wrong or not, we have such laws.

“Castle doctrine” and “stand your ground”

In the most general terms, the “castle doctrine” absolves you of any legal liability that may arise if you back down from a threat if it comes from you in your home and (in some states) involves the use of lethal force. It’s usually easier to defend yourself against a guy who breaks into your house than a guy who bumps into you at a bar, because his very presence in your house can be seen as an imminent threat. It’s not limited to red states that love to shoot; it works much the same in liberal California as it does in Tennessee.

The castle doctrine, however, does not mean that you can use force against anyone in your home for any reason. There are endless nuances there; as a rule, you cannot use force against someone if, for example, there is a good faith dispute over the ownership of property. Chances are you won’t be able to beat up your roommate for not paying rent and use castle doctrine as a defense. You cannot invite your nemesis into your home, attack him and not expect legal consequences.

Limits of castle doctrine

Shooting a stranger for knocking on your front door is legally likely to have a very different result than shooting a stranger knocking on your bedroom door because, as a general rule, castle doctrine only applies in the actual walls of your home: does not apply to your yard or walkway.

As a general rule, you cannot legally shoot someone who is on your property but outside of your home, even if they are committing a robbery (except in some cases in Texas) . The law distinguishes between the use of lethal force to protect oneself or another person and the use of deadly force to protect property. However, in many cases you can legally use non-lethal proportionate force to protect your lawn gnomes or other property from theft, but this is complex and depends on countless details and state and local laws. So you better call the police.

People who love to discuss the nuances of shooting people sometimes advise homeowners to take advantage of the castle defense doctrine, suggesting that if you shoot a burglar who is halfway through your window or on your porch before stealing, you should drag the body inside. Do not do this if you are faced with this unlikely scenario. You would manipulate the evidence, and it would be obvious.

For sure and for sure—and even in Texas—you can’t shoot or otherwise attack someone for knocking on your front door, turning around in your driveway, or taking a basketball off the lawn. If you could, it would be open season for postmen, Mormons, and Grubhub delivery drivers. With the exception of a fence or no entry sign, the path leading from the sidewalk to your door and driveway is generally considered open to the public, and again, even if someone is trespassing on your property, you cannot respond to shoot and not expect arrest.

While Missouri shooter Andrew Lester may have told police that he thought someone had broken into his home, that alone is unlikely to provide legal cover – if the details being reported are accurate, it’s hard to believe a “reasonable person” would take a simple doorbell as an immediate threat. (A word of caution: anything can happen in a jury trial.) The same goes for teenagers turning in the driveway, kids walking across the lawn to get a ball, or assholes trying to sell solar panels—you can’t shoot any of them. .

Can an intruder sue you for protecting your home?

If a burglar breaks into your home and you punch him, you will most likely be protected from prosecution, but the burglar can sue you in civil court for the injuries he inflicted, but only because anyone can sue anyone anything for almost anything. . The case will almost certainly be decided in favor of the homeowner (or dismissed long before) because while homeowners are usually responsible for protecting visitors from injury, this is not the case for violators. However, there is a huge exception: booby traps.

You can’t set traps in your house

Home Alone is a true classic, but setting burglar traps on your lawn or living room is illegal under castle doctrine, self-defense, or any other laws. This is highly illegal, unless you, like Kevin McCallister, are facing real thugs in your home at the moment. Kidnapping is not only a crime, it is intentional by definition, because you would have known while digging a trap hole that someone might be killed. You will also find it difficult to argue in self-defense because you probably won’t be in the area at the time the trap goes off.

To sum up: you will avoid a lot of trouble in your life if you don’t set traps or shoot Girl Scouts who want to sell cookies.