|
Just beware of thinking a simple reading of the text of a statute is very useful.
Case law is the compendium of how the statutory law has been applied and interpreted over the years. Some states do not have any statutory deadly force law and use case law almost entirely to define the concepts of justifiable and excusable homicide (this is how Virginia operates).
The ‘reasonable man’ standard appears often in case law (and even occasionally in statutory law) but the only definition usually available must be gleaned from case law.
Self defense use of any deadly weapon is normally evaluated on a case by case basis.
The political motives of District Attorneys often come into play when asked to address a concealed weapon class, and only the most general of questions relating to the text of the law will typically be answered. The legal advice is worth exactly what was paid…nothing.
|