Castle Doctrine in MA

[Rich_S]

reviving an old thread....but it's important to understand the laws in Mass regarding the use of lethal force.

1. OUTSIDE of your home you have a duty to retreat
2. You can not be part of the escalation of violence
3. You can never use lethal force to defend property
4. You must exhaust all lesser means before using lethal force
5. You must be in immediate danger of bodily harm or death (or an innocent third party)

If someone comes into your house only to steal your stuff you can not shoot them. If you're carrying on the street and someone approaches unarmed and asks for your wallet you have to hand it over. If someone cuts you off in traffic and you beep the horn you can't shoot them if they come at you with a tire iron because you escalated the violence by beeping the horn. If someone comes at you with a knife outside the home you must run. Basically if you ever shoot someone you're going to have issues so it better be a life or death situation. Even if it is life or death the chances of it ending well if you do shoot someone are very low. Remember that the security guard at Mass General who shot the mental patient who was stabbing his doctor was charged....

[G50AE]

If someone cuts you off in traffic and you beep the horn you can't shoot them if they come at you with a tire iron because you escalated the violence by beeping the horn.

Beeping a horn is not an escalation of violence, it is communicating that an accident may have occured in that situation.

[Rich_S]

Beeping a horn is not an escalation of violence, it is communicating that an accident may have occured in that situation.

Tell that to our moonbat AG and our moonbat prosecutors. They jam people up on escalation all the time for such things.