On Thursday, March 31, HB-249 was on the House floor. SB-436/Castle Doctrine which has already passed the Senate was substituted and debated and will now be on the House Floor Tuesday, April 5, for final debate and a final vote on passage. If the bill passes here, it will go to Governor Jeb Bush for his signature.
It is time to send email to ALL members of the House. Please immediately send email to all members of the Florida House and urge him or her to SUPPORT SB-436.
IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL PUT: SUPPORT SB-436 - Use of Force/Restoring the Castle Doctrine
You can find contact information for House members by using NRA-ILA`s "Write Your Representatives" feature.
BACKGROUND:
HB-249/SB-436 corrects a serious problem for citizens who chose to protect themselves in the face of attack by violent criminals.
This bill REMOVES the "duty to retreat" in the face of attack; it creates the presumption that an attacker or intruder intends to do great bodily harm and therefore force, including deadly force, may be used to protect yourself, your family and others in the face of attack; it prohibits prosecution for defending that which you have a right to defend and prohibits civil lawsuits by criminals or relatives of criminals when criminals are injured or killed while attacking law-abiding people.
The Courts in Florida have clearly eroded the rights of law-abiding citizens by imposing a "duty to retreat" (leave your property and RUN) when attacked.
Law-abiding citizens should not be victimized by the state/courts for failing to retreat (RUN) from their own property or any place they have a right to be in the face of attack by an unlawful intruder. Nor should they be victimized for using deadly force against a perpetrator who unlawfully intrudes -- regardless of whether the victim knows what kind of force the perpetrator intends to use.
Any victim should be able to presume that an unlawful intruder is there for the purpose of doing great bodily harm, and subsequently places the victim and the victim`s family in great imminent peril.
The Castle Doctrine is an ancient common law doctrine with origins going back at least to Roman law that provides that a man`s home is his castle and, hence he may use all manner of force including deadly force to protect it and its inhabitants from attack.
The Florida Constitution Article I, Section 2 guarantees basic rights to all natural persons including the right to defend life and protect property.
The citizens of Florida have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes or vehicles and to be able to use all manner of force against an unlawful intruder/attacker.
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