Pennsylvania seeks to join more manly states in enacting the "Castle Doctrine" gun law. PA law currently allows us to empty our Glocks at any unwelcome intruders into our homes. "Eat lead, scumbags, this is my Castle! Oops, sorry about that, Aunt Eunice and Uncle Fred. We weren't expecting you until later."
Our Castle does not extend past our property line though. Keystone State courts have ruled that we have the duty to "retreat from danger" if we feel threatened in a public space. Did John Wayne retreat from all those Indians in "Fort Apache"? If Fort Apache was in Macungie, he would have had to do so.
A news item from last week provides a powerful argument for Castle Doctrine supporters. A 200 pound bear wandered into a Poconos housing development looking for food. The bruin spied and headed toward a 2 year old girl holding, ironically, Gummi Bears candy. "What have these humans done to my cubs? They shrunk them, colored them, and are eating them!"
The girl's playmates raised an alarm. A neighbor assayed the situation, retrieved his trusty handgun, and fired three shots into the ground between the toddler and the bear. The bruin fled and the girl and the Gummi Bears were saved.
Technically, the neighbor fired those shots outside his personal Castle and violated the law. Are Pennsylvanians to place our children and our candy in danger from marauding wildlife simply because we cannot fire hot lead across property lines? Texans and Floridians can fire at will when threatened. Why can't we?
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