Deadly Force

If you have ever watched the news, then you have probably seen numerous reports of cases of deadly force.  People protect themselves, others, or their property by fatally harming another. There are different situations where this is seen as okay in the eyes of the law. There are different rules in different states on this, but the question all of them have to ask is 'when is killing someone else alright?'.

The line between reasonable force and excessive force is very thin which can cause problems with the law. In MN the law is as follows: "The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense which the actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or death, or preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode."

There are several pieces of information that are not obvious in this statute. You can not use deadly force anywhere outside of your abode unless you are 'innocent'. This means that you can't provoke someone, shoot them, any claim self defense. You are not innocent in you were part of the problem. Also, if you are robbing a bank and someone pulls a gun on you, you can't shoot them and claim self-defense. When you committed the crime of bank robbery, you forfeited your right to self-defense.

The phrase 'great bodily harm' is also very important in the statute. The injury has to have a high probability of death or causes serious permanent damage. If these conditions do not apply to your situation you can face jail time or large fines.

Some states have laws that state that people have to trying to run away before they can use deadly force. This is not a law in Minnesota currently, but it is some places.



If you see someone in your home, you can't use a firearm on them even if you see they have one. They have to be pointing it directly at you or someone else. This seems like a bad law to me because once someone has a gun pointed at you, chances are that he will shoot you before you can shoot him. So many things can go wrong, but I suppose things can go wrong no matter how the law is.