Running head: When Can I Shoot, and When Can’t I?

When Can I shoot, and When Can’t I?

Courtney Wise

Arizona State University

When Can I shoot, and When Can’t I? 2

Abstract

My project 2 is centered around the argument of whether it is permissible for a person

protecting his or her home to shoot an intruder in “self-defense”, or does such an act constitute

“excessive force”. The online definition of self-defense is simple enough, but it raises many

questions when applied to actual situations. I think this is an important topic for our country,

especially now, due to an increase of crime recently. It is beneficial for the people of our society

to know what is considered self-defense and what could be seen as an excessive force, ultimately

getting them in trouble with the law.

Keywords: self-defense, guns, excessive force

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When Can I shoot, and When Can’t I?

Imagine being a parent of two young daughters ages three and seven during a cold winter

night in a small town in the heart of Indiana. Nothing bad could ever happen in a small town

right? Well during this particular night, a “safe place” turned into one that was feared. The parent

of two daughters woke up from a dead sleep to the sound of someone trying to open the locked

front door. It wasn’t until that parent went down the stairs to hear where the noise was coming

from, that the man who was trying to break in broke off in a dead sprint to get away. That parent

was my dad and the two daughters were my sister and I. In that moment, my dad feared for not

only his safety, but the safety of his two girls and wife that he said he would always protect no

matter what. What if the guy had gotten into our home that night? What could my dad have done

to protect our family within legal rights? That brings me to the topic of self-defense. In a

dictionary it’s definition seems simple, but it is when the word is dissected within each situation

that it shows its true complications and questions begin to be asked.

What is a sufficient level of force or violence when defending oneself? What goes

beyond that level? What if the intended victim provoked the attack? Do victims have to retreat

from the violence if possible? What happens when victims reasonably perceive a threat even if

the threat doesn’t actually exist? What about when the victim’s apprehension is subjectively

genuine, but objectively unreasonable?

Self-defense is defined as being a claim or plea that use of force or injuring or killing

another was necessary in defending one’s one person from physical attack. This definition seems

simple from the surface but when guns are brought into it, it gets complicated. Some may say the
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use of guns for self-defense is “excessive force” and thereby cannot be justified. Others, have the

opinion that if someone is intruding your personal space such as your house or physically

attacking you, or putting your family in danger then you should have every right to overpower

that person and that may mean using a gun in order to ensure protection for loved ones. In the

United States, there is an annual figure of 2.5 million instances where the presence of a gun stops

a crime, and nearly half of gun owners say they keep weapons because it makes them feel safer.

A recent study shows that victims who resist with a gun are less likely than other victims to lose

their property in robberies, less likely to be injured by criminals, and less likely to be raped.

Guns are not always justified though, and in some states it is incredibly difficult to make a claim

for self-defense when one was used.

Self-defense was around before the foundation of the United States. If traced back, it can

be found in the English common law principles, which are foundational to what would

eventually become the United States legal system. The English common law doctrine held a

“duty to retreat” that meant that you were obligated to retreat in the face of an attack. This law

went without issues until 1604 when a court case took place because of an intrusion of agents of

the king into a man’s private home. Due to this incident, the Castle Doctrine was added to the list

of laws as an exemption to the duty to retreat. The U.S. claims to be gender-blind and race-blind,

but the purpose of this law held a greater underlying meaning at that time. It allowed for some to

defend themselves in their home and was named the “Castle Doctrine” because a “man’s home is

his castle”. During this time though, it meant “a white, property-owning man’s home is his

castle”, and he’s allowed to fight back. Since then, we have held the same self-defense laws but

they have adapted to being open to all races and genders. The problem now is our country is

starting to inquire more guns than we have people.

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I think it’s easy for both sides of the self-defense argument to point fingers at the other

side. Some will say the use of a gun is an excessive force and there are other ways to defend

yourself, but I don’t think we as people really understand the situation until we have been face to

face with an intruder in a moment of shock, fearing for our lives, thinking of all the things we

wish we had said or wish we didn’t say to someone as that could be our last moment on this

earth. A lot of people have not been in the face of fear like that and a lot of people have not had

the responsibility of protecting a wife or a child. What if the attacker had a gun on them and you

only had a baseball bat? Who wins? The gun. Whether you agree with the use of guns or not, in

that moment you will wish you had a gun because that’s what would allow you to have equal

power with the bad guy and that’s what could save you or your family. It would do no good to

answer the question of “When can I shoot, and when can’t I? with a list of rules that must be

abide by because in a moment of fear there is no time to go through a list of regulations that the

government has created to make sure you are in the right before you think about pulling the

trigger. I think if one simple rule had to define self-defense it would all come down to this: you

are justified in using legal force against another human being if, and only if, there is immediate

and unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to an innocent person.

The world contains more evil now than it ever has. Evil people. Evil firearms. The word

“self-defense” has only become increasingly harder to define because of all of the evil that is

around and all of the good that is trying to stop it.

Today, in order to stand a chance against the bad, the good must be holding a gun. 2009

marked the first year the number of firearms in circulation surpassed the total U.S. population. It

has only gone up since then. Due to the increasing number of firearms, there are becoming more

crimes, and because there are more crimes, people are buying more guns as they now fear for
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their safety. Instead of using a baseball bat or something hard to hit someone with like what

would get the job done in the good ole’ days, people are now having to resort to using guns for

self-defense because they know that is what the bad guy on the other side will be holding. Self-

defense cannot continue to be justified with a list of laws, there is a much bigger problem that

needs to be solved in our country today. Fingers can no longer be pointed at the person next to

you to solve the issue. The blame can no longer be put on the mentally ill. Younger generations

can no longer be seen as weaker and not be given a voice. Self-defense is a word that can’t be

universally defined anymore because we as a country allowed it to become one. Guns have

outnumbered our population because we could not stop its growth. It’s time to change.
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References

Ingraham, C. (2015, October 05). There are now more guns than people in the United States.
Retrieved March 29, 2018, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/05/guns-in-the-united-states-
one-for-every-man-woman-and-child-and-then-some/?utm_term=.9039dcf2cc4e

(n.d.). Retrieved March 21, 2018, from https://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp

Wing, E. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from http://www.aware.org/resources/women-guns-

articles/12-lyn-bates/122-when-can-you-shoot-part-1

May I Shoot an Intruder? (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2018, from

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/may-i-shoot-an-intruder.html

LoRusso, L. J. (2017, November 29). Self-Defense Realities: Justified vs. Excessive Force.

Retrieved March 15, 2018, from https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2015/11/self-defense-

realities-justified-vs-excessive-force/

Everything You Should Know about Self Defense in AZ. (2016, October 20). Retrieved March

14, 2018, from https://tobinlawoffice.com/2016/03/self-defense-laws-in-the-state-of-arizona-

when-is-assault-or-physical-force-justified/