posted at 10:05 am on November 2, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
Give MSNBC some credit for covering the story of Sheriff Chuck Wright and his call for law-abiding citizens to arm themselves as a measure of self-defense. However, deduct credit for a complete lack of research and common sense in preparing their interview of Wright. Substitute host Craig Melvin treats his guest respectfully but obviously doesn’t have a clue about the laws regarding self-defense, nor the actual application of “presumption of innocence”:
CRAIG MELVIN, NewsNation guest host: If women are shooting potential attackers, aren’t they presuming guilt before innocence? What if a woman kills an attacker? Isn’t that opening another whole legal can of worms?
Sheriff CHUCK WRIGHT, Spartanburg, S.C.: Well, it’s easy to fix that. Just don’t attack a woman…. I know that this is controversial, but I do believe that people who believe in the Second Amendment and believe that they should arm themselves have a right to do so, as long as they’re trained properly.
First, no one can shoot “potential attackers” in self-defense. Anyone who gets a permit to carry a firearm has to learn the laws of self-defense with lethal force (in most states; see update), which don’t change with the issuance of a permit. Lethal force can only be used if in reasonable fear of losing life (your own or someone nearby) or “grave” bodily harm (i.e., losing a limb or an eye, not broken bones) while outside one’s home. Inside one’s home, laws vary more, but they all require some sort of actual crime in progress, such as breaking and entering the house itself; in Minnesota, there has to be a felony occurring, not just the B&E, which is a misdemeanor, and at the moment the law still requires some retreat inside the home, which legislators are trying to change with a “castle doctrine” change to the law.
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/02/video-dumbest-self-defense-question-ever/