BEN NEARY Associated Press writer | Posted: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The Senate on Monday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would specify people wouldn't have to retreat before using deadly force to repel criminal attacks.
House Bill 137 also would specify that a person who uses deadly force against an intruder who enters his home could not be found liable for civil damages.
The Senate passed the so-called "castle doctrine" bill on its first reading by a vote of 20-9. But some senators who voted in favor of moving it along in the process said they believe it needs to be amended when it comes up again today.
Supporters of the bill say Wyoming needs to spell out that citizens have the right to self-defense. They say the principle goes back to the English common law saying that "a man's home is his castle."
Sen. Kit Jennings, R-Casper, spoke for the bill on the Senate floor on Monday.
"Very few people have a problem with the idea of your castle," Jennings said. "It's your castle, and you should be able to protect it."
Jennings said he and other senators have received mail from constituents in favor of the bill.
"The people in Wyoming want us to pass this bill," he said. "It's going to say, 'This is your option to keep from being sued."'
Sen. Bob Fecht, R-Cheyenne, is chief of police in that city. He said Wyoming is attracting members of hardened drug gangs who fear each other and commonly threaten one another's lives.
Under the bill, Fecht said, gang members would be justified in not retreating from each other and shooting each other on sight.
"These aren't young kids who are wearing colors. These are hard-core gang members from major cities who are moving into Wyoming and using it as a hiding place," Fecht said.
Fecht also said that if the state wants to undertake a codification of the law on self-defense, it should address all the issues at once. He said important issues of the right of police to kill armed criminals in the line of duty aren't spelled out in statute, but only in case law.
The National Rifle Association has made passage of such "castle doctrine" legislation a priority nationwide. The group said last month that 20 states have passed such legislation and it's pending in five more, including Wyoming.
Mike Blonigen, Natrona County district attorney and president of the Wyoming Prosecutors Association, has lobbied against the bill. He said tinkering with aspects of the state's settled body of law on self-defense could have unintended consequences.
Sen. Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette, called the bill a "solution looking for a problem" and urged other senators to vote against it.
Without mentioning the NRA specifically, Von Flatern said, "We know it's a national organization trying to get something done in Wyoming, and get us to put something in our code."
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, said he believes Wyoming's law on self-defense is pretty good, but said that he believed the bill could be amended to limit the bill to issues of civil liability for those who use deadly force.