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Bill would expand self-defense rights Friday, Dec 8, 2006 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A bill that would expand the limits of legal self-defense in Arkansas was pre-filed Thursday in advance of the 2007 legislative session, which starts Jan. 8. State Rep. Mike Burris, D-Malvern, pre-filed House Bill 1027, the proposed "Stand Your Ground Law." The bill would permit the use of deadly force against a person forcibly entering a dwelling or occupiable structure, unless the person is a lawful resident of the structure and is not violating a protective order or no-contact order. It also would permit the use of deadly force against a person who is removing a person from a dwelling or occupiable structure against his or her will, unless the person being removed is a child, grandchild or other person in the legal custody of the person doing the removing. The bill would not permit the use of deadly force by a person engaged in unlawful activity, nor would it permit deadly force against a law enforcement officer who enters a structure in the performance of his or her duties, if the officer identifies himself or herself or if the person who uses deadly force knows or should know that the other person is a law enforcement officer. The bill would eliminate language in the state's existing self-defense law that requires a person to retreat, if possible, before using deadly force to defend a person. Burris' bill states that a person who is in a place where he or she has a right to be and is not engaged in unlawful activity "has a right to stand his or her ground and meet deadly physical force with deadly physical force ..." A person whose uses deadly force in a manner permitted by the bill would be immune from criminal prosecution and civil action. Burris said Thursday that he filed the bill after several of his constituents expressed concerns about their right to protect themselves. Burris said he also knows a person who lives outside his district who was charged with battery and entrapment after he injured a person who repeatedly broke into his barn. He declined to name the person. "I think that it's a basic Second Amendment right, that people have a right to protect themselves and their families against criminal activity," Burris said. Burris said he looked at similar laws in states such as Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida before drafting his bill. Critics of those states' laws have called them "shoot first" laws, claiming they encourage violence rather than discouraging it. Burris said that is not the intent of his bill. "I'm trying to protect the rights of the criminally abused. I think that if people make the choice to do criminal activity, then they need to know that people have the right to protect themselves," he said. State Sen. Jerry Taylor, D-Pine Bluff, pre-filed a bill last month that would eliminate the requirement to retreat before using deadly force. Burris said he agrees with that bill but does not believe it goes far enough. |
