Can you shoot an unarmed intruder who refuses to leave?

[Regular guy]

There are legal standards, then there are moral standards. It works like a septic tank - hard floor at the bottom are legal standards, clean air outside are moral standards. There is a lot of, um, gray area in between.

Legally in CA you can defend yourself in your home with a lot of presumptions going your way. It's no excuse for doing immoral things even if not illegal.

If you can avoid killing someone by telling them to leave and they run, why in the world would you be looking for a way to commit legal homicide?

I was being sarcastic. I hope I never have to deal with shooting an intruder. I would like to think that I would do everything possible to avoid taking a life.

[Den60]

I'm not a lawyer but the fact that someone you don't know came into your house uninvited would indicate to me they are up to no good. If they refuse my command to leave how am I to know they don't have an accomplice looking to flank me? If you were to shoot it would be on him to prove that it was unjustified. I would make the second call the number on my CCW Safe card and I would tell the police that I will gladly cooperate with their investigation once my attorney is present.

[leadchucker]

...how am I to know they don't have an accomplice looking to flank me?

Exactly. NEVER assume they're alone.

[leadchucker]

LOL! O.K. You do it your way in your own home, then.

[WarBoyNux]

Better have some cheap *** knife that says joker you found in the bushes to drop on the body.

Before you shoot scream "he's coming right for us".

[YOUTUBE]

[CSACANNONEER]

For everyone who says to say nothing to the police, have you ever heard of Christian Gunter? If he hard made a short statement at the scene, he probably would not have spent weeks in jail while trying to prove his innocence. Most, if not all, companies that help people involved in SD shootings recommend that you make a short, factual statement right away and then tell the officer that you will answer any and all questions once your attorney is present.

[Chewy65]

In Ca, the law is pretty clear. If someone forcibly enters your home who is not a member of the family or household and you know the forcible entry has occured, you are legally presumed to be in fear of your life unless they can prove otherwise. Sorry, your wrong. In your scenario, it would have the legal right to protect yourself or anyone else.

You are correct. Too many are unaware of the part of your podt that I emphasized in bold. This is an old post of mine.

Fairly frequently a Calgunner will post something to the effect that you are presumed to be in fear for your life if a person breaks into your home, which roughly correctly paraphrases the law of the state, but is too easily misunderstood by some to be a get out of jail card. See Penal Code Section 198.5 and the case of People v. Owen (1991), from which I quote:



In short, should you shoot an intruder, the presumption is not a bar to an arrest, prosecution, or conviction. What it should do is prevent the same in the absence of what evidence giving rise to probable cause, as RicKD indicates.

I am not saying what the law should be, but what it is. Do not confuse a rebuttable with a conclusive presumption. [This has not been Shapardized and if anyone has the resources to so or they are up to date on the law do not hesitate to correct me if it has changed. I was not crim law guy.

Interesting is the last sentence of my quote from P v Owen. The presumption really changes nothing.

[hardcore4sure]

It happened to my boss! He woke up to some wacked out kid breaking into his home and my boss pulled a gun and told him to stay put and not advance toward him or move or he will be shot, and the kid just stood his ground and said, go ahead I dare you to shoot me and started talking back to my boss for like 20 minutes before the police showed up. They arrested the punk and took this crazy wacked out kid away, the cop in charge told my boss that they wish he could have shot him! Seue cops are humans too and know how people are fearful of criminals and our lives!

Refuse to be a victim!!

Most are, but the bottom feeding, status chasing, conviction hungry, politically motivated, self serving DA's aren't!

[afteractionreport]

If you have a genuine fear for your life then you have the right to protect yourself while in your home

[meno377]

Can you shoot an unarmed intruder who refuses to leave your home?

So you’re at a standoff, you have the sights on an intruder and issue the following command “I have a gun, get out of my house!”. The intruder says FO and stands his ground.

Can you shoot? I know if he advances, you can. If he turns around and attempts to exit, you can’t. But what do you do if the muzzle is not enough to scare him off and he gets verbally combative?

Is that enough to say that mortal danger was apparent?

Imminent danger=Yes. Otherwise No.

If he stands ground but doesn't move, that's no imminent danger, but once he moves his hands, all bets are off.

[warbird]

someone breaks into my house he is going to find out there are a lot worse ways to die than a gun. That may be the least of his worries. and from the moment he broke in I was in fear of my life.

[Yellow Wing]

It depends on how you explain it to the cops.

[911GT3]

Intruder will then become a squatter then you are really screwed. Hand over your keys to him or shoot him.

[bcoc2002]

That is when you call 911 and wait for the police. I would also strongly consider not pointing the muzzle towards the person if you can maintain a safe distance. Keep the gun at the low ready position. You do not want the intruder to use some BS story that he was in fear of his life and he had no weapon and you were brandishing. It also prevents a ND from creating all sorts of problems for you.

In the real world, most trespassers would remember they had some other place more important to be at that moment when the home owner is point a gun at them and would be tripping over their feet to get out of there ASAP.

No such thing as Brandishing on your property. Conceal carry goes out the window.

[Epaphroditus]

Forcable entry. Dude carjacks and beats your wife to death takes the keys and goes to your house (all this unbeknownst to you).

Uses the keys to open the door and enter.

There is always more to the story.

Anyone you don't know who 'magically' appears in the house is an imminent threat. Always.