Stand-Your-Ground Laws

A stand-your-ground law is a justification in a criminal case, whereby defendants can "stand their ground" and use force without retreating, in order to protect and defend themselves or others against threats or perceived threats.

Stand Your Ground law - Firearm Expert by ABC Action News

An example is where there is no duty to retreat from any place where they have a lawful right to be, and that they may use any level of force if they reasonably believe the threat rises to the level of being an imminent and immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death.

In criminal law, the duty to retreat, or requirement of safe retreat, is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions that a threatened person cannot stand one's ground and apply lethal force in self-defense, but must instead retreat to a place of safety.

Personal Defense Network: Misconceptions about 'Castle ... by PersonalDefenseNet

One case describes "the 'stand your ground' law...

a person has a right to expect absolute safety in a place they have a right to be, and may use deadly force to repel an unlawful intruder."

Justification using stand-your-ground laws may be limited in that the justification cannot be used in some cases where defendant was engaged in other illegal conduct at the time, when "[the defendant] was engaged in illegal activities and not entitled to benefit from provisions of the 'stand your ground' law".

This castle doctrine gives immunity from liability to individuals when an intruder enters their home.

A Castle Doctrine is a legal doctrine that designates a person's abode or any legally occupied place – e.g., a vehicle or home, as a place in which that person has protections and immunities permitting one, in certain circumstances, to use force to defend oneself against an intruder, free from legal prosecution for the consequences of the force used.

Of these, twenty-two jurisdictions have also extended the immunity to other locations, some extending it to anywhere where a person may legally be.

Other restrictions may still exist, however.

For example, a person carrying a firearm or other weapon in public must do so in a legal manner.

A firearm is a portable gun - a barreled weapon that launches one or more projectiles, often driven by the action of an explosive force.