Ravenwood - 04/10/06 09:00 PM
The Missouri legislature is debating the removal of the state's "duty to retreat" law. "Duty to retreat" laws mandate that if you're attacked, you must run away (use your best Monty Python voice) prior to defending yourself with any force of your own.
Editors of the News-Leader of Springfield claim that passing such a law would "tie prosecutors hands". They think that since when cops shoot people there's an investigation, people defending themselves should face similar treatment. Passing the law, they say, wouldn't allow the government to adequately prosecute the victim.
They also say the law is unnecessary, because people already don't have a "duty to retreat" in their own home.
This bill isn't all bad. One provision would allow people who shoot someone in self-defense to be immune from a civil lawsuit. It makes sense to try and prevent frivolous litigation that can tie up the court system. However, the core aspects of the bill are based on bad information.Okay I know, another anti-gun media outlet. Yadda Yadda Yadda. But what makes this article unique is that the bill's sponsor, Marilyn Ruestman, goes on to invoke Ravenwood's Law in defense the bill.The bill's sponsor, Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, said her bill would make it so that a homeowner does not have to retreat. But that's what the current law already says. What her bill does is unnecessarily tie the hands of prosecutors and law enforcement who want to investigate shootings.
"We're not talking about the Wild West here," she said.Usually these references are the tools of the antis.
Category: Cold Dead Hands
Comments (8) top link me
Now that I think of it, I don't really know what Ohio's laws have to say about mandated retreat.
I do, however, know what my law says on the topic. I guess I'd just rather die fighting than running.
Posted by: roger at April 11, 2006 9:59 AMWelcome back to the blogging world. Keep it going. I miss my daily Ravnwood news.
Posted by: Joseph at April 11, 2006 3:51 PMHere in Minnesnowta, one's home is the ONLY place from which you are not required to retreat. The 4 "easily popped balloons" for which a successful self-defense plea can be made are:
1. You must be a reluctant participant.
2. You must be in immediate danger of death or grave bodily injury.
3. No lesser (i.e., non-lethal) force would stop the attack upon you.
4. You must have no practical retreat.
Waiving the requirement for retreat from one's home seems a little redundant...are we supposed to jump from a second-story window after the bad guys have busted into the house and are charging up the stairs?
P.S.: All of the above is directly cribbed from Joel Rosenbergs excellent book on carry/self-defense in Minnesota, a strongly recommended read for why firearms and their use never solve problems, but might keep you alive in order to deal with the new problems you've just created.
Posted by: Blackwing1 at April 12, 2006 11:57 AMDang, Steve! It is so good to see you are back! You were missed.
Posted by: Rhett at April 13, 2006 3:32 AM"They think that since when cops shoot people there's an investigation, people defending themselves should face similar treatment." You mean getting a lawyer paid for by the department, telling their buddies about the incident, then getting a paid vacation while their buddies investigate? Or do you mean spending the night in jail and having to pay for a lawyer yourself?
Posted by: markm at April 16, 2006 11:36 AMBy misusing the American military to steal Iraqi oil you have placed us on the bad side of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.
http://www.deanberryministries.org/index3.html
Wow, I guess that I should be pretty excited to be a fan of Ravenwood.com!
Who knew that Steve is the mastermind behind all of the "blood for oil" shape-shifting, reptilian overlords in the Bush administration. That makes him even badder than Mechagodzilla or something, right?
Question of the day: Is a deanberry like a dingleberry, but only smellier and more difficult to get rid of?
The tastiest part of the trolls site is the hyperlink "Click here if you're an American traitor". Good old fire-and-brimstone threats against your soul - effective, too! - I ran screaming out of the room and had to be sedated a bit before I could post this comment.
For a guy who blogs only once in a blue moon, you sure scored an A1 troll in this posts comment section.
Posted by: Rimfirejones at April 18, 2006 7:55 PMI've been shaking with excitement for days just to hear Dean Berry's take on this whole thing. He is, after all, The Dean Berry.
Of course, I'm also waiting for the stolen oil to start flowing into my town...
Posted by: roger at April 19, 2006 11:56 AM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
