Fear That’s Long Haunted Gun Owners Could Be Erased In Tennessee

The Tennessee state Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would expand the right to use deadly force to include property protection, easing a fear long held by gun owners.

The legislation, which would allow citizens to use deadly force to prevent arson, burglary, animal cruelty and robbery in certain situations, passed on party-line votes in the Republican-dominated Tennessee House of Representatives and Tennessee state Senate. Supporters of the legislation argued that law-abiding citizens should be allowed to protect their life’s work, Nashville-area TV station WKRN reported.

“Right now, under current law, if someone is breaking into your property, if they’re stealing from you, if they’re destroying what you’ve worked your entire life to build, you’re expected to wait,” Republican state Rep. Kip Capley said during debate on the measure. “You’re expected to hesitate. You’re expected to second-guess and take a calculated risk at defending what’s yours.”

In most states, the use of deadly force in self-defense is only permissible in situations where a person has “reasonable fear” of being the victim of a violent crime, according to CriminalDefenseLawyer.com.

“Under traditional self-defense laws, the act of brandishing or firing a gun is evaluated like any other use of force. The main question is whether using a gun was reasonably necessary and proportional to an imminent threat of unlawful force,” the site says. “For instance, when an attacker raises a fist or throws a punch, the victim can’t just pull a gun and shoot. A gunshot in these circumstances would normally be more force than necessary for self-protection from non-deadly force.”