{"id":23900,"date":"2011-10-21T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T17:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=23900"},"modified":"2012-03-23T16:59:57","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T21:59:57","slug":"why-we-need-better-self-defense-laws-maybe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=23900","title":{"rendered":"Why We Need Better Self-Defense Laws. Maybe."},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0shooting \u00a0by reported carry-permit holder in South Minneapolis<\/a>\u00a0may just illustrate the problems facing the law-abiding citizen.<\/p>\n

We’ come back to that. \u00a0First, the reported details:<\/p>\n

A man was fatally shot Thursday night in south Minneapolis in what may have been a case of self-defense by another man who interrupted a robbery, police said.<\/p>\n

Just before 10 p.m., police got a 911 report that someone had been shot in a parking area behind the Super Grand Buffet restaurant about a block west of Cub Foods near the intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenues, according to police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among all the shootings that have plagued that neighborhood – which is, by the way, my old neighborhood – over the decades, this one is distinguished by one factor:<\/p>\n

When police arrived, a man with a gun who said he had a valid concealed-weapon permit told them he had interrupted the robbery of a woman in her 60s. The man said that he chased the robbers, a male and a female, exchanged fire and killed the male robber.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And if you’re a normal person with a living soul (and, of course, all the facts check out), that’s all it takes; guy interrupts two pieces of vermin not just robbing but (according to some media reports) pistol-whipping an older woman; and gives chase. Robber turns to shoot the good samaritan; samaritan shoots first.<\/p>\n

But the Hennepin County Attorney’s office aren’t people – they’re prosecutors. \u00a0People who not only focus on the letter of the law, but the letters of the law that their bosses want empasized; they work for an office whose tacit purpose, run as it is by a DFL elected official, is to enforce DFL social policy, which is that only urban thugs and<\/del> the police should have guns, and that we, the law-abiding, should be disarmed and docile.<\/p>\n

Police took both the alleged female robber and shooter into custody while they investigate his account of the shooting. Two guns — one from the slain man, one from the shooter — were recovered, Palmer said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the one hand – especially if you’re a resident of a long-blighted neighborhood, or have ever had a grandmother – you can sympathize with the guy chasing the scumbags down. You might even root for the guy – I sure would.<\/p>\n

But there are two problems here:<\/p>\n

Self Defense Law Starts Our Shooter Out With Two Strikes<\/strong>\u00a0– The problem with self-defense is that it is an “affirmative defense” – you’re saying “Yes, I killed the guy, but I have an excuse”. \u00a0In other words, you essentially\u00a0plead guilty to murder<\/em>, and spend the trial process fighting that admitted guilt by proving four things:<\/p>\n