Regrettably some anti-gun groups are engaging in a wide-reaching advertising campaign that would give the impression that Florida is no longer a safe tourist destination. This is not true.

Florida believes in the "castle doctrine" which actually dates back to the Middle Ages. The doctrine proposes that a person's home (castle) is a safe haven for him/herself and their family. In Florida, a person acting in self-defence outside of his/her home or workplace has a duty to use every reasonable means to avoid danger, including retreat, prior to using deadly force. In the event that an individual (the victim) chooses to defend him/herself and the attacker becomes injured or killed, the victim could be charged with assault or an even more serious crime.

The new Florida legislation creates a presumption, with certain exceptions, that a person having a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to him/herself or to another person, may use force, up to and including deadly force, in response if:

• the person against whom the force was used (the attacker) was in the process of unlawfully and forcibly entering a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle, and
• the person who uses defensive force (the victim) knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or an unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred.

The Florida law provides that a person, not themselves engaged in an unlawful activity, who is attacked in a place where they have the legal right to be (i.e. a dwelling, residence, occupied vehicle or public place) does not have an obligation to retreat and may meet force with matching comparable force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to him/herself or to another person or to prevent a forcible felony.

Once the incident has been investigated by the police, the Florida law provides immunity from criminal prosecution of, and civil action against, the victim who has used justifiable force in the defence of him/herself or another person. It does not provide immunity where excessive force was used or the victim was in fact lying in wait for his/her attacker.

Florida law defines "forcible felony", in which force may be used as including:

It is important to also note that Florida is not alone with this type of legislation. The majority of U.S. jurisdictions do not impose a duty to retreat before a person (the victim) may resort to deadly force if threatened with death or great bodily harm.

October 3, 2005