Attacker without a gun

Elm79 · Oct 23, 2014

I've pretty new to all this. I've taken NRA pistol but not the home self defense class. I will ask this question when I take that class. But I wanted to see your opinions....

Hypothetical: man kicks in my MD front door. Family and I are upstairs. Man marches upstairs with no weapons. Just a big dude who is pissed off and wants to kick my ass, for some reason. It seems to me from reading the law that I could only respond with my knuckles otherwise that would be unreasonable and excessive. I could not shoot him.

If someone kicked in the door my first thought would be to grab my gun. Then I would see this man charging me, see he has no weapon, then if guess Im supposed to toss my gun to the side and start a good fist fight?! Seems idiotic.

I'm not asking for legal advice just a discussion. In that flash of a moment what would you do? Clearly if he is armed he would be shot. But unarmed I'd be contemplating what to do with my gun, to avoid spending my life in jail. If he takes it from me he could kill me, however.

E

Ack Ack · Oct 23, 2014

I don't know the actual wording, but it's something along the lines of: if a "reasonable person" would believe that the intruder intended to inflict great bodily harm, you are justified in using deadly force. On top of that, you really have no way of knowing whether he's armed or not.

trickg · Oct 23, 2014

Shoot him dead and plant a gun in his hand!

Name Taken · Oct 23, 2014

Oh here we go.

Your lawyer is the only person you should take legal advice from.

You ask a legal question and then state you aren't looking for legal advice...it doesn't work that way.

There are endless variables to your question making it very hard to answer. There is never "blanket statements" that cover everything in the court of law.

Good luck. I'll sit back and read a lot of wrong and misguided posts from here on out.

OrbitalEllipses · Oct 23, 2014

trickg said:
Shoot him dead and plant a ~~gun~~knife in his hand!

Fixed.

dist1646 · Oct 23, 2014

I would tend to say that he made his LAST mistake when he broke in to my house.

5.56blaster · Oct 23, 2014

Do you fear for your life or your families lives? If you said yes then you know the answer already.

davsco · Oct 23, 2014

NT, he's asking what folks would do, fair question, no?

Me personally, if someone enters my house violently and doesn't retreat when facing my firearm, I will shoot to stop the threat. As the well-used adage goes, better judged by 12 than carried by 6. But I would certainly hope he'd review the situation and bolt out of my house, as I'd much rather not deal with all the aftermath.

newq · Oct 23, 2014

Only you can tell what is appropriate at that moment. The law expects that you you have a reasonable duty to retreat. In my case there is only one way in and one way out without jumping from 2 story high windows. I.E. I cannot retreat. I have a plan for the what if, and since retreat is not an option I know EXACTLY how I will respond.

I am aware I still may be brought to trial. I cannot avoid the conflict once someone enters my home whereas most others would argue that they have no option for other reasons.The bottom line. In Maryland even when you show cause for lethal force it most likely won't save you from being brought up on charges even if you did everything you could to avoid the situation.

I detest the saying better to be judge by 12 then carried by six but it is the only way in the PRM.

Gryphon · Oct 23, 2014

Welcome.

I too will take the bait, but have to wonder why you would ever even consider tossing your home defense firearm off to the side? Kicked in the front door? Came upstairs in a physically threatening manner ready to kick your as? Really? Your No.1 responsibility is your and your family's safety. You do not have a duty to retreat in your home. Let that guide you and cast aside any doubts embedded in your mind by BGS. Use the force necessary to subdue the threat, and let only your conscience judge you after you know they are safe.

Atlasarmory · Oct 23, 2014

In my humble opinion I would think the average person with a family to worry about would be utterly terrified in that type of situation. So I don't think you have the luxury of deciding what you want or should do I think you would end up doing whatever you had to and would just have to face the consequences if it turns out that way. One day (hopefully not) if your in that position you'll do what you have to not what you've been given permission to.

DaemonAssassin · Oct 23, 2014

MD accepted Castle Doctrine on 10/1/12, IIRC. Look at the working of that law, which went into effect, to see what you can legally do in that situation.

whistlersmother · Oct 23, 2014

Gryphon said:
Welcome.

I too will take the bait, but have to wonder why you would ever even consider tossing your home defense firearm off to the side? Kicked in the front door? Came upstairs in a physically threatening manner ready to kick your as? Really? Your No.1 responsibility is your and your family's safety. You do not have a duty to retreat in your home. Let that guide you and cast aside any doubts embedded in your mind by BGS. Use the force necessary to subdue the threat, and let only your conscience judge you after you know they are safe.

^This. Consider said attacker may over-power you. Maybe he's on PCP or something.

Are you willing to give him access to your firearm, with your family somewhere very close by, in the event he knocks you unconscious?

Name Taken · Oct 23, 2014

DaemonAssassin said:
MD accepted Castle Doctrine on 10/1/12, IIRC. Look at the working of that law, which went into effect, to see what you can legally do in that situation.

It's a civil defense not a criminal defense.

Turbohugh · Oct 23, 2014

Seems once they are 'in your house' you have no obligation to confirm they are not armed. For all you know [like someone else said] you were 'in fear of your life'

smokering · Oct 23, 2014

If my wife or dogs get to him he may have preferred to been shot....they hate to be disturbed. :lol2:

I'm past the age that someone is going to come looking to kick my ass AND be stupid enough to kick in my door to do it; people that dumb are already dead or in jail. :innocent0

SRD · Oct 23, 2014

After the door and dog I'm the last line of defense for my family and while I'm not afraid to fisticuffs with any man,it won't happen in my Home.

Scottysan · Oct 23, 2014

How do you KNOW he is not armed?
If he is aggressive enough to kick in the door, enter an occupied dwelling, and advance upstairs... then he is armed.
This is an entirely different mindset than entering an empty house to burglarize.
There is an attitude of assault, willingness to do harm when forcibly entering an occupied home at night.
2 in the chest, 1 in the head, unless the wife breaks out the S12, then all bets are off.

Scottysan · Oct 23, 2014

Elm79 said:
I've pretty new to all this. I've taken NRA pistol but not the home self defense class. I will ask this question when I take that class.

E

So... who are you?

grayson71 · Oct 23, 2014

Scottysan said:
So... who are you?

this...

funny how someone's first post is something like this, seems to me a troll wants to get us talking about shooting people in our homes. after all, we are extremists in the libs point of view

:sad20:

Attacker without a gun

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Member

Active Member

Guns 'n Drums

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

101st Poptart Assault BSB

inveniam viam aut faciam

Ultimate Member

Why should we Free BSD?

Peace through strength

Ultimate Member

Squib..

Day Walker

R.I.P.

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics