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Old April 17, 2010, 09:36 AM   #54
OldMarksman
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Join Date: June 8, 2008
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Quote:
All I am asking is for you to provide the name of one state with a statute that is a blanket prohibition against using lethal force in self-defense in one’s residence.
There are no such statutes, nor have I implied that self defense in one's own residence is unlawful anywhere in this country. I did comment about the use of deadly force in the defense of the home.

To my knowledge, the use of deadly force to defend oneself when immediately necessary against imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm is lawful everywhere in this country, inside the home or out. It is when one uses deadly force to stop an intruder from entering the home, or when deadly force is not immediately necessary (for example, if safe retreat had been possible) to defend oneself against an intruder who has entered the home unlawfully, that one can get into a lot of trouble in some places.

You probably won't find a statute that says so, however; it's just that in some states the statutes that cover the justifiable use of deadly force do not refer to forcible unlawful entry into an occupied residence as a reason to assume justifiability, and that the case law doesn't either. (It may be that Massachusetts did have such a law on the books before 1995.)

If one employs deadly force in self defense, it is up to him to provide evidence that his action was justified under the law. In some places, evidence of a forcible, unlawful entry of the actor's occupied residence will suffice. In others, it will not.
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