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    got_mud07's Avatar
    got_mud07 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Feb 5, 2010, 08:21 AM
    Can I shoot someone in my house if they won't leave
    If someone is in my house and I ask them to leave and they won't leave do I have the legal right to shoot them if I feel my life is in danger?
    tickle's Avatar
    tickle Posts: 23,796, Reputation: 2674
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    #2

    Feb 5, 2010, 08:27 AM

    No you don't have the legal right to shoot a trespasser in your own home. Why would you want to be charged with manslaughter ?

    Tick
    AK lawyer's Avatar
    AK lawyer Posts: 12,592, Reputation: 977
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    #3

    Feb 5, 2010, 08:35 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by got_mud07 View Post
    ... if i feel my life is in danger?
    What is the basis for this feeling?

    Is the danger immediate?

    As Tickle has said, you can't use deadly force simply because someone is trespassing.
    this8384's Avatar
    this8384 Posts: 4,564, Reputation: 485
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    #4

    Feb 5, 2010, 09:00 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by got_mud07 View Post
    If someone is in my house and i ask them to leave and they wont leave do i have the legal right to shoot them if i feel my life is in danger?
    The way you've worded this doesn't sound right. If you ask someone to leave and they do not, then you call the police and report them. Shooting them and causing serious injury and/or death is not what you do to trespassers, as others have pointed out.

    Just because they refuse to leave doesn't mean your life "is in danger." They have to actually be physically attacking you.
    smoothy's Avatar
    smoothy Posts: 25,492, Reputation: 2853
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    #5

    Feb 5, 2010, 10:50 AM
    Its all in specifics...

    If you allowed them to enter your house is totally different than if they forced their way in and are threatening you where you have reason to fear for your safety. Example... I hear glass break then hear someone in my house and my wife is in bed next to me... they aren't going to get a chance to give me an excuse.
    Conversely, If an exceptionally pushy Jehovahs Witness (example only) pushes their way in and won't leave. or a salesman won't take no for an answer... I call the cops to remove them.

    Local laws vary... but in THAT specific case (robbery or forced entry as in breaking and entering) in many localities you have the right to lethal force INSIDE your house to protect yourself.

    BUT you can't shoot someone who has overstayed their welcome. Not without getting in big trouble.

    In that case you should call the police and have them remove the party from your house.

    Some places the criminals have more rights than the homeowner does. Its best to know what YOU are allowed to do before you ever think about doing it.

    I've seen cases in Washington DC for example... where they go after the homeowner far more aggressively that shoots a criminal in the act of robbing his house than they do the armed criminal.
    JudyKayTee's Avatar
    JudyKayTee Posts: 46,503, Reputation: 4600
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    #6

    Feb 5, 2010, 01:12 PM

    You can only respond to violence with the same level of violence in NY. If someone breaks into my house I cannot shoot him or her unless there is a threat of violence and I believe the threat - and then I have to have no other means of "escaping."

    I don't advise shooting people as a general practice - even if you are right you will probably be charged and have to pay an Attorney.
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