I have gotten a lot of questions about the shooting in Kearns Utah. For those of you who don’t know the very basic story is that a homeowner woke up to find a man attempting to enter his home through the sliding glass door. The homeowner was armed and shot the man through the sliding glass door. The would be burglar ran a short distance before dieing due to the shot to the chest. Now of course there are other details to this story coming out and there are plenty of articles on the Internet about it if you want to know more. I thought I might just take this opportunity to talk on the subject of home defense or “defense of habitation” as it is stated in Utah law.
To stop a forcible felony you may use all force necessary including and up to lethal force. Burglary is a forcible felony and if necessary lethal force maybe used to stop it. Also Utah law states that a person may use all force necessary up to lethal force against a person who is attempting to enter or who has entered the home in a violent or stealthy manner and if he or she believes the person has entered to do personal violence to someone in the home. Of course this is Utah law paraphrased but it shows you two different laws that aide Utah residents in defense of themselves and those in their home. As to the shooting in Kearns, Utah if the home owner reasonably believed the person was committing burglary or had intent to do personal harm to someone in the home then he was justified in shooting.
Here at the Armed Self Defense Institute we won’t tell you exactly what to do in a situation like this. When it comes to shooting at another person the morals and ethics of what is right and wrong are personal. What we can do is arm you with the information that will help you make these tough decisions based on your situation and beliefs. If you don’t have your Utah Concealed Firearms Permit (Concealed Weapons Permit), that is a great place to start to learn laws and basic self defense knowledge. If you have your permit but would like to learn more about home defense or personal protection we can arrange a private class or group class to fit your needs. If you think you might want training, get some. If you don’t know what kind of training is right for you give us a call and we will help you figure it out whether that training be through us or someone else. Our number is (801) 613-2734