Essential Self-Defense Law Part II: Appropriate Force

By Salvatore

Read ‘Essential Self-Defense Law Part I: Imminence’ Here

In the first installment of this article I laid out three legal principles that I firmly believe all armed citizens should be well aware of as a bare minimum of self-defense law understanding: The ability to recognize an imminent threat, an understanding of appropriate force, and an understanding of maintaining innocence. We went on to analyze how to recognize imminence in part one. Now, we will proceed with our discussion and explore the legalities and use of appropriate force.

Understanding Appropriate versus Excessive Lethal Force

When we use force as a citizen to mitigate a violent threat we are legally entitled to only one thing: neutralization of the threat. The textbook definition of neutralize typically reads to “render (something) ineffective or harmless by applying an opposite force or effect.” When we shoot we shoot to neutralize. That is all. Terms such as “shoot to kill” or “shoot to wound” are for the movies, they have no bearing on legal self-defense for the armed citizen. If a threat is indeed an imminent lethal threat then we are justified in a lethal response, and in the case of shooting we shoot to neutralize the threat. A …Read the Rest

Source:: Concealed Nation