Re: Dallas Morning News article on Castle Doctrine
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:29 pm
To me, personally, the issue is not just whether or not the de-facto status quo ante the Castle Doctrine bill was that juries were inclined not to convict, and the Dallas Morning News entirely misses the point.
The point is that, even if juries were not likely to convict, the law still assumed the philosophical stance that you have a duty to retreat, and that is not right. The reason that our streets are overrun with crime in some areas is exactly because citizens have been taught that they have a duty to retreat, and criminals know this. But when the state affirms the right to stand your ground against evil, armed with the means of deterring it, then evil must retreat - as has happened in actual statistics in every part of the country where a castle doctrine exists as a matter of law, and where citizens have the right to arm themselves against danger.
The DMN completely misses that point. They have lost sight of the difference between an armed citizen, and a disarmed subject; and the fact that all that is necessary for evil to flourish is for otherwise good men to do nothing.
The point is that, even if juries were not likely to convict, the law still assumed the philosophical stance that you have a duty to retreat, and that is not right. The reason that our streets are overrun with crime in some areas is exactly because citizens have been taught that they have a duty to retreat, and criminals know this. But when the state affirms the right to stand your ground against evil, armed with the means of deterring it, then evil must retreat - as has happened in actual statistics in every part of the country where a castle doctrine exists as a matter of law, and where citizens have the right to arm themselves against danger.
The DMN completely misses that point. They have lost sight of the difference between an armed citizen, and a disarmed subject; and the fact that all that is necessary for evil to flourish is for otherwise good men to do nothing.