Quote:
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Posted by Chaperallcat: you do not have the right to shoot unless you are legally allowed to be in the area.
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The point of the thread is that "a right to shoot" is not something that is granted by the law.
There is a
natural right of self preservation. Prerequisite to the use of force is
immediate necessity.
Courts and legislatures have amplified the constructs within which a defender is presumed to have been faced with said necessity. For example, in some jurisdictions, the duty to retreat has been obviated for a defender who acts
where he has a legal right to be. That does not give the defender a "right to shoot"--it simply eliminates the duty to retreat if shooing is otherwise necessary.
If the defender is not provided with the right to stand his or her ground, either because he or she does not have a legal right to be at the location in question or because he or she initiated the confrontation, h or she must retreat if it is safely possible to do so. If he then attempts to retreat but cannot do so, he or she still has a natural right of self-preservation.