- Joined
- Jul 5, 2022
Source? The Tennessee self defense law I can find doesn't once say "proportional".It says that any force must be proportional and to deploy deadly force it needs to be such that a reasonable person would feel you are in fear of your life or great bodily harm.
Instead, it says this:
https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-39/chapter-11/part-6/section-39-11-611/(b)
- (1) Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in conduct that would constitute a felony or Class A misdemeanor and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force against another person when and to the degree the person reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful force.
- (2)Notwithstanding § 39-17-1322, a person who is not engaged in conduct that would constitute a felony or Class A misdemeanor and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, if:
- (A) The person has a reasonable belief that there is an imminent danger of death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse;
- (B) The danger creating the belief of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse is real, or honestly believed to be real at the time; and
- (C) The belief of danger is founded upon reasonable grounds.
- (3) For purposes of this subsection (b), a person is not engaged in conduct that would constitute a felony or Class A misdemeanor or in a place where the person does not have a right to be if the person is engaged in the activity or in the place due to the person's status as a victim of human trafficking. The person must prove the person's status as a victim of human trafficking by clear and convincing evidence. The person may provide clear and convincing evidence of the person's status as a victim of human trafficking through testimony.
The most relevant part here seems to be (b) (1), since he was responding to another's use of unlawful force. It simply says that someone has the right to use force that they reasonably believe to be necessary to prevent another's use of unlawful force against them. Shooting a guy who grabbed and was punching him in the head seems very reasonable to me.
In reply to your post (don't want to spam the thread) (b)(2)(a) doesn't say proportional. It just says that you must have reasonable belief that there is imminent danger of serious bodily harm. If you think being grabbed and having an angry dude punch you in the face doesn't make you think you are in imminent danger of that, I don't know what to say to you.It's right there under 2A dumbass it's almost exactly what I said.
My point is that the law doesn't support your idea that if someone is attacking you you have to respond back in means equal or less deadly to those they are using. That isn't part of this law.
By "prescribing death", he seems to be referring to you suggesting he should just sit there and take the punches or gamble on a fistfight and potentially end up with brain injuries or dead rather than use his weapon for self defense.Doing time for a criminal act is not prescribing death. Like I said somehow you think that anyone a shade darker than you are is out to kill you.
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