Self-Defense & Defense of Home
SELF-DEFENSE & DEFENSE OF HOME
Self-Defense and Protection of Others
Deadly Force
Deadly force should remain limited to circumstances where a person reasonably believes they face:
imminent death;
serious bodily injury;
kidnapping;
forcible violent felony;
equivalent grave danger.
Defense Against Mobs and Violent Crowds
Peaceful protest is protected.
No person has the right to:
trap innocent motorists;
forcibly prevent people from leaving;
attack occupied vehicles;
drag occupants from vehicles;
use violence or credible threats against uninvolved people.
A person surrounded by a violent crowd may use reasonable force necessary to escape an actual unlawful attack.
There should be no blanket right to intentionally run over peaceful protesters merely because a road is blocked.
Self-defense should depend on the actual threat.
Civil Protection for Lawful Self-Defense
A person found to have lawfully acted in self-defense should generally receive protection from civil liability arising solely from that justified act.
Defense of the Home
The Home Receives the Highest Protection
A person's occupied home should receive the strongest protection under self-defense law.
A person who reasonably believes an unlawful intruder is forcibly entering an occupied home should not be required to wait until they are physically attacked before taking reasonable defensive action.
Castle Doctrine
A lawful occupant should have no general duty to retreat from their own home before defending themselves or another lawful occupant from an unlawful violent intruder.
Presumption During Forcible Home Entry
Where another person knowingly and unlawfully:
forcibly enters an occupied dwelling;
attempts forcible entry;
breaks into an occupied dwelling;
remains after committing a violent unlawful entry;
the lawful occupant may receive a rebuttable legal presumption that the occupant reasonably feared serious unlawful harm where the circumstances support that conclusion.
Defense of Property
Property May Be Defended
People should be allowed to use reasonable force to prevent:
burglary;
robbery;
theft;
arson;
vandalism;
unlawful destruction of property.
However, the law should distinguish ordinary property loss from threats to human life.
Deadly Force
Deadly force should generally be reserved for situations involving a reasonable belief of imminent:
death;
serious bodily injury;
kidnapping;
violent home invasion;
forcible felony;
equivalent grave threat.
The theft of replaceable property alone should not automatically authorize killing another person.
However, crimes such as armed robbery, violent burglary, occupied-home invasion, and arson of an occupied structure frequently create threats to people as well as property and should be treated accordingly.
Defense Against an Unidentified Home Intruder
Occupants Should Not Be Required to Guess That an Intruder Is Police
If government agents enter a residence in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to believe they are being subjected to a violent criminal home invasion, the occupant's defensive rights should be judged based on what the occupant reasonably knew at the time.
A resident should not automatically become a criminal merely because an intruder was later discovered to be a government officer.
Relevant facts should include:
whether officers clearly identified themselves;
whether identification was reasonably audible and visible;
whether uniforms were visible;
whether emergency circumstances existed;
whether the occupant had reasonable opportunity to recognize law enforcement;
whether the resident reasonably believed they faced imminent serious harm.
Self-Defense Procedure and Immunity
A person who presents competent evidence of lawful self-defense is entitled to an expedited pretrial immunity hearing. Once sufficient evidence is presented, the prosecution must prove under the criminal burden of proof that the use of force was not justified. The court must issue written findings.
Police and prosecutors must consider readily available exculpatory evidence before arrest or charging; a self-defense claim does not prevent investigation.
A person found to have acted lawfully receives immunity from criminal punishment and civil liability arising solely from the justified act.
A prevailing defendant may recover reasonable attorney fees from a civil claimant who pursued the case in bad faith after lawful self-defense was established.
The initial aggressor may not claim self-defense unless the aggressor clearly withdraws, communicates that withdrawal when reasonably possible, and the other person continues or renews the unlawful attack.
Force must remain proportionate to the threat. Deadly force is limited to a reasonable belief of imminent death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping, a forcible violent felony, or an equivalent grave danger.
Reasonable force may be used to escape an unlawful violent confinement, vehicle attack, or mob assault. A blocked road without an actual violent threat does not authorize intentionally striking peaceful people.
Related policies: Guns; Search Warrants, Raids & Home Entry; Law Enforcement; Courts, Trials, Appeals & Timely Justice.
Status: Proposed / Draft — not yet formally adopted.
Originally published: August 15, 2026.
Last updated: September 25, 2026.
Version: Draft 0.1.