Well, ok, I don’t really need an answer all that quickly, as I’m not aware of any aliens nearby. But assume, for the purposes of this hypothetical, that the following are true:
Intelligent aliens exist, and visit this planet.
The existence of aliens is widely speculated about, but has never been confirmed.
There are no diplomatic relations between aliens and any government on Earth.
Any shooting will take place in AnyState, U.S.A., which has a strong Castle doctrine, a “Stand Your Ground” law, shall issue conceal carry permits, and is otherwise reasonably “gun friendly”.
Anystate’s law forbids the unlawful killing of human beings.
Aliens are not human beings, and aren’t reasonably likely to be mistaken for human beings.
I’m peaceably watching a football game, minding my own business, when ET lands his spaceship in my front lawn. He’s reving the engine so loud, I can’t hear the game. Naturally, I look out the window and see an alien in the yard. Being the cautious sort, I grab a pistol before going outside to tell him to shut the hell up and get off my lawn. Harsh words ensue and:
7a) I blow his ass away; or
7b) He points something I reasonably believe to be a deadly weapon at me and I blow his ass away.
Questions:
Am I subject to prosecution under State or Federal law?
How do you cook an alien?
What would it cost to get a mid-sized alien stuffed for display?
Would the alien corpse be considered my property, which the state may not take from me without due process of law and compensation? How about the spaceship?
What’s the going rate for alien corpses?
The spaceship–should I sell it whole, or part it out?
In Anystate, U.S.A. could a home owner walk into his front yard and shoot a stray dog that was barking too loud? Would that be unlawful use of a firearm? I think even most gun friendly states frown upon discharging weapons in residential areas where children may be present.
Legally I’d speculate that state/city would treat the alien in this scenario as an animal and all the ramifications to shooting one needlessly in your front lawn would apply.
As for the corpse and spaceship, I think the government would easily exert eminent domain and claim them on behalf of the state for security and scientific purposes.
Resistance is futile. Your puny weapons are useless.
My wild guesses:
It would be considered a justifiable act of self-defense by our earthly justice system, in the absence of outside pressure. But if authorities from the planet Lepton demanded justice upon pain of planetary annihilation, you’re done for.
Don’t. What makes you think the meat of something that evolved on another planet would be safe, nutritious, and tasty for a human?
Do you want it done cheaply, or done right?
4, 5, 6. The government would confiscate the alien, the craft, and possibly you. If there isn’t a law providing for this already, there soon would be.
I was operating on the assumption that Oakminster (b) believed his life to be in danger or (a) is a convincing enough liar to convince the police, DA, and/or jury that he did.
I think it’s pretty certain that if the law would allow for the killing of a human, it would also allow for the killing of an alien. If the situation is such that the law would not allow for the killing of a human, and the aliens are intelligent, the courts would probably construe “human”, or whatever language is in the relevant laws, as including aliens.
7c) the alien is unaffected, or your weapon jams mysteriously, or you or your weapon disintegrates or you’re frozen in some kind of stasis field before you can fire etc etc
Any alien with tech to cross interstellar space is unlikely to let themselves be hurt by primitive chemical reaction based weaponry.
I dunno. Think that raises a notice issue. Aliens look nothing like humans, and the law only forbids killing humans. Extending the definition of human to include alien seems* ex post facto* to me. Perhaps existing law could be amended or interpreted that way for future cases, but applying it to the bug-eyed tentacled mess on my front yard…especially after it interrupted a football game, seems harsh.
I think you’d be held to the same restrictions as if the extraterrestrial on your property were an illegal alien, actually. They’ve got none of the same protections that citizens enjoy, but they have some human (yes, I get it, very funny) rights. So you can only shoot ET if he’s threatening you.
Before you shoot ET, you may want to confirm whether AnyState’s Stand Your Ground law will protect you in your yard (as opposed to in your house or vehicle).
Have your wife or husband video ET and the spaceship before, during and after the confrontation. Then you can sell the footage to the highest bidding network.
Maybe your lawyer can work out a deal for you in which you cooperate with the government in turning over ET’s body and spaceship for research, in exchange for no prosecution or leniency relating to ET’s death.
It might be more fun to yell “Klaatu barada nikto!” to confuse him first, then blow his ass away. I also suggest that you turn the gift he was bringing you to solve all of earth’s problems into a nice paperweight for your desk.
I’d go with no. Something tells me that once some alien ship lands on or about your property, it becomes a federal jurisdiction. Now you might counter with state rights , the fourth amendment and such things, but scully and mulder will be right there telling you that you have just been screwed by DC, here is a check for what they think your property is worth.
What about the various varmint laws on rural california? there is no varmint season [defined as no particular value and prone to destroying crops or animals] but you want to use a long arm not a pistol.
There was a short story, dating from the 50s, IIRC, about this. Can’t recall the title/author, though.
In the story, an alien lands in a small town and is making friends with the locals. That is, until it’s shot by one of the less savory citizens. Said person claims that the alien is vermin and he is licensed by the town to exterminate vermin. So there’s nothing that anyone can do about it.
As I remember it, when last seen, the town council is attempting to redefine vermin to exclude aliens, but include the less savory person.
