Ahhhhh, Facebook Reels. Endlessly tweaking algorithms to suit my fancy. For some reason, for the last few weeks I’ve been seeing a ton of home surveillance videos. Some daytime- usually porch pirates.
Others nighttime. Amazing how sharp the Infrared sensors are now in the home security realm. I see all manner of people walking up to a parked car just next to the garage doors. Jacking the doors, etc etc. Sometimes the cars are left alone and personal property it stolen.
Now, I do not own a firearm. I’m pretty pacifist as it goes.
How far outside of your front door does “The Castle Doctrine” extend? You find someone inside of your home, having broken in. You fear for your life. You kill them with a firearm. For the most part, you’re in the clear.
How does it work when you are awakened by a clumsy burglar who is keeping their thieving ways OUTSIDE the walls of your home, but clearly on your property?
Do you shoot them and go off to the jail for many years for murder just because they were outside of your house instead of in the dining room, or walking down the upstairs hallway 8 feet from where your children sleep?
It’s my understanding that it doesn’t work like that. It’s an extension of self-defense that allows you to fight back against an intruder without requiring you to, if possible, retreat back into your house. That is, you can defend your ‘castle’.
If you’re some distance away from your house, it would just be normal self defense (stand your ground).
The factual answer depends very much upon your individual state law. Not all states endorse this particular version of the common law applications of self-defense, and those that do differ dramatically on how and where such actions can be taken.
Here’s a summary of how it works in my state of Colorado:
While there’s lots there to go over, more to your specific question:
Does the Make My Day law apply to my front porch or yard?
No. It only applies after an intruder has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling itself.
Lots of other provisos, and like everything else it’s going to depend a lot on intent, what someone is theoretically doing, and what a lawyer can convince a jury was “reasonable”. But that’s the fast, factual answer for my state. Lawyers would get rich on the details.
I just got my CHP (Concealed Handgun Permit). Eight hour class, about 4 hours of classroom, and 4 on the range.
The instructor told a story about a person trying to jimmy a sliding glass door to break in the house. The home owner shot him through the window and got into trouble (I don’t know how much). The attempted intrusion into the home was not covered by the Castle Doctrine.
If the burglar had so much as got his hand inside, that breaks the line of the domicile and the shooter would be in the clear.
I do not no it the story the instructor told us was true.
But as @ParallelLines says, the laws vary quite a lot by state. Some only allow lethal force in your home if you or another resident is in imminent danger. Some allow lethal force to protect your dwelling. Others have “stand your ground” provisions that allow you to kill someone if you feel threatened, wherever you are, without a duty to flee.
As others have mentioned, it depends on state law.
In 2019, a homeowner in Dayton, Ohio found two teenagers inside his detached garage, and killed both. (Link.) He was convicted of murder in 2021. (And rightly so, IMO.)
I believe most states make it illegal to use deadly force to defend property, e.g. firing a gun at someone who is trying to steal your car that’s parked in your driveway. Though I think Texas allows it, in some situations?
A person shall not use deadly force upon another person under the circumstances specified in subsection 1 of this section unless:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such deadly force is necessary to protect himself, or herself or her unborn child, or another against death, serious physical injury, or any forcible felony;
(2) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person; or
(3) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter private property that is owned or leased by an individual, or is occupied by an individual who has been given specific authority by the property owner to occupy the property, claiming a justification of using protective force under this section.
I’m wondering how any American could ask this question without including which state they’re talking about. While phrasing the question as if there’s a single simple answer.
I could certainly understand somebody from elsewhere who’s not viscerally familiar with the US’s absolute hodgepodge of state laws on, well, everything. But for anyone from the USA? Color me confused.