Stay out of the wrong castle

Columns

Discussion

July 8, 2006

By Sid Salter / syndicated columnist The Meridian Star Sat Jul 08, 2006, 11:45 PM CDT

Detractors of Mississippi’s new “Castle doctrine” law are fretting as Senate Bill 2426 goes into effect this week. They say that the law legitimizes the notion of “shoot first and ask questions later.”

They say that the law will make it easier for criminals to claim self-defense when they kill someone. They say that the law will encourage more people to buy guns and empower them to use them without fear of civil liability if they injure or kill someone.

All three of those criticisms are correct.

But there’s a simple solution to those problem areas in the “Castle doctrine.”

People who stay out of the wrong “castle” should be fine. It’s difficult to be shot as an intruder if one only enter homes or cars or businesses to which one has both a key to gain entrance and a legal right to be on the premises.

The new law removes the “duty to retreat” when one is threatened in their home, car or in the street. It also removes civil liability from killing an intruder or attacker.

But the protections don’t apply when a person claims self-defense when shooting a law enforcement officer or another person who has a lawful right to be on the premises of the shooting. Further, the “duty to retreat” has never existed in state law prior to the adoption of the “Castle doctrine.”

But that’s mostly legalese.

The safety valve for the “Castle doctrine” is for burglars, crackheads, carjackers, strong arm robbers, muggers, rapists, thieves and other assorted boils on the butt of humanity to stay out of homes, cars, stores, offices and other domiciles that don’t belong to them and to stop mugging, robbing, raping and stealing.

Those who utilize that course of action aren’t terribly likely to be shot. Those who don’t likely will be.

The notion that homeowners, young single women, elderly widows or business people should find themselves the victims of crime and feel it necessary to run down a checklist before defending their lives, the lives of their loved ones or their property before taking action is ridiculous.

This law doesn’t turn Mississippi into Dodge City. It simply defines the circumstances in which innocent people can make an effort to protect themselves. In the broader sense, the law does something else — or should.

The “Castle doctrine” should serve notice on those who choose a life of crime that the consequences of that choice may prove dire indeed — and that potential victims may indeed “shoot first and ask questions later.”

Again, there’s a safety valve for those criminals. It’s called not breaking the law in the first place.

The thing that makes the “Castle doctrine” a viable law as opposed to an exercise in political pandering to the gun lobby is that most gun owners were already living by the doctrine.

On the street, gun owners and even some law enforcement types understood that if they shot and intruder, they might want to pull the body inside the door or window rather than leaving it outside.

But for most Mississippians who own handguns and long guns as well, the idea of not protecting one’s property with deadly force was never an option. This state is too rural and too plagued with drug crime for it to be otherwise.

In addition to property crimes, the notion that civil liability should exist for a driver who uses a pistol to fend off a carjacker or other intruder is ludicrous.

Women attacked in department store parking lots, elderly women along in rural settings or anyone made prisoner in their own home by crime should have the right to feel safe in their own home. More than that, they should have the right to defend themselves.

I have no sympathy for criminals wounded or killed in the commission of their crimes by citizens under the “Castle doctrine” — because they were simply in the wrong castle at the wrong time.

Sid Salter is Perspective editor of The Clarion Ledger. Call him at (601) 961-7084 or e-mail him at ssalter@clarionledger.com.

Text Only

Columns

European travel tips
If there is a condom machine in the restaurant’s restroom, you have made a mistake in your choice of dining establishment.
That is one of my rules for dining in Europe. Unfortunately, if you are already in the restroom, it’s probably too late.

February 8, 2012
Military cuts and BRAC to challenge leaders
February 6, 2012
Let ms.gov know what's going on
The state's newly relaunched web portal, www.ms.gov, is a great idea. According to a news release this is the first major update for the site in more than a decade.

February 5, 2012
Today’s need — $3,893.76
Today’s need concerns eleven circumstances. The first need is a couple in their forties working all the hours they can. The husband’s paycheck has been running low because he has not been receiving the hours at work he was accustomed to. With $274.38 we can keep their utilities form being cut off.

February 4, 2012
Killer, the cat ...
February 3, 2012
Counsel fight remains a political cold war
The ongoing legislative battle over the so-called “outside counsel” or contingency fee law remains a political cold war between the state’s trial lawyers and the state’s business and medical interests – and it’s a story that has two sides.

February 1, 2012
Travel technology
After leaving the Trapani Salt Flats on the western coast of Sicily on a late November afternoon, I maneuvered our vehicle down yet another remote, unmarked dirt road and passed dozens of vacant houses. No one was on the streets. It had been 10 minutes since we had seen another car. Sunlight was at a minimum. We had been warned several times about remote areas of Sicily.

February 1, 2012
Restoration spurs renewal in East Miss.
Choctaw tribal chief Phyliss Anderson restored and reopened Phillip M’s at the Pearl River Resort last week. She also signaled her intent to renew the economic policies so successfully implemented by the restaurant’s namesake.
"Under the visionary leadership of our late Chief Phillip Martin, our tribe realized great progress and today I am proud to honor his legacy with the re-opening of Phillip M's," said Anderson, flanked by members of Martin's family.

January 30, 2012
Today’s need — $2,393.77
1 JOHN 3:17 - “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” Praise belongs to God as every need in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 has been met. Thanks to everyone who has generously given over the years to change lives physically, financially, and spiritually. Each week I stand in awe of God as I witness God’s provision in our lives.

Today’s need concerns six circumstances. The first need is a lady in her fifties just released from the hospital. Her sister she was living with died a few months ago. She is trying as hard as she can to pay the mortgage to keep her sister’s house. She has been able to maintain all her expenses so far but does not have money for her prescriptions. These prescriptions are necessary to keep her physically well. With $300.00 we can provide her much needed medications.

January 29, 2012
Gratitude
As I sit down to write this first column in a wrap-up series of the six-month, 17-country, two-continent research tour through Europe, I am struck by an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.
I am grateful to the employees and managers of our restaurants who did an excellent job keeping the wheels in motion during my absence. I am grateful to our customers who helped make 2011 a record sales year for the company. I am grateful to longtime friends, new friends, and friends we have never even met for their prayers of support and well wishes. I am also grateful to the friends we met along the way.

January 25, 2012
More Columns Headlines

Columns

Search Results

Discussion

Stay out of the wrong castle

Site Map

Contact Us