Experiences with an AR for SD

[eye5600]

Still a lot of opinion, not much experience.

About using an AR to defend a farm or other lonely place.... I am not a lawyer, but I do know that for some purposes, the area immediately around the home is considered differently from the fields, etc. For example, a farmer would have (in law) no expectation of privacy out on his fields, but would have near his house. The actual example I read about had to so with LEOs putting a location bug on a guy's car. It was OK or not, depending where on the property the car was.

I suspect some of the same thinking would apply in an SD situation. The DA is not going to allow you a free field of fire just on the basis that it's your property and the other guy is trespassing. The bad guy is needs to be pretty close before it's really counts as an attack on your castle. Unless he's shooting at you, of course.

 

[Al Thompson]

The bad guy is needs to be pretty close before it's really counts as an attack on your castle.

What you have to have morally and legally, is AOJ. Good discussion of AOJ here:

http://www.corneredcat.com/Legal/AOJ.aspx

Castle Doctrine varies from state to state, so broad brush statements can be very untrue, depending on where one lives. Ours is pretty protective, so here, if you are in a place where you can legally be, no duty to retreat. A smart person would avoid a fight, but (here) you don't have a legal obligation to do so.

OP, there have been a few long gun self-defense shootings here, but nothing has surfaced indicating that weapon choice was an issue.