Stand Your Ground!
It’s 10:00 PM and you’re leaving Bigelow Mart which is now closing for the night.
You just picked up a 30 day supply of non-narcotic asthma medicine for your 6-year-old at home.
What should have been a simple errand has taken you more than an hour. A mixup at the pharmacy – where they tried to give you oxycodone instead of what you requested — resulted in over 20 minutes of arguing with the pharmacist and manager before convincing them they were giving you the wrong medication.
An argument, albeit necessary, which was observed by others.
As you are walk toward your car, you can see that it is all by itself in the parking lot. At the time you arrived, there were other cars nearby. The storefront and parking lot lights are gradually being shut off in sections every few moments.
You sense that someone is following you and getting closer. A quick glance is all you take and you can see that whoever may be there is holding something. You cannot determine whether it is the glint of a knife or a glimmer of a shiny new cell phone.
Regardless of whomever is approaching you, he or she does not know that you have a Massachusetts concealed carry permit, and you’re carrying a fully loaded 9 mm with a large capacity magazine.
Your heartbeat quickens and you need to make a decision. Do you run for your vehicle, hoping to unlock it and get in quickly? Do you run back to the store, hoping they will let you back in? Or … do you draw your weapon and stand your ground?
For the purpose of the segment, and the sake of discussion, certain factors such as your age, whether you have handicaps, distances between place, and so on, have been intentionally omitted.
Unlike certain other states Massachusetts does not have a stand your ground law
Much to the contrary, under Massachusetts law you have a duty to retreat.
The following Massachusetts case helps to illustrate:
Duty to retreat. At the close of evidence, the judge, without objection, instructed the jury that the defendant had a duty to retreat if he could do so in safety prior to using deadly force. On appeal, the defendant claims that “[t]he longstanding Massachusetts’ duty to retreat rule, as an undue restriction of a fundamental right [to self-defense],” is unconstitutional. In support of his claim, the defendant relies on the holdings of McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, 130 S.Ct. 3020, 177 L.Ed.2d 894 (2010), and District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171 L.Ed.2d 637 (2008), to suggest that the right to defend one’s self is a fundamental constitutional right which cannot be limited by the “undue restriction” of a duty to retreat. He also relies on Brown v. United States, 256 U.S. 335, 41 S.Ct. 501, 65 L.Ed. 961 (1921), for the proposition that an individual does not forfeit his right to use deadly force, even when it is safe to retreat and he fails to do so.
In Heller, 554 U.S. at 635, 128 S.Ct. 2783, the United States Supreme Court concluded that a “ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment [to the United States Constitution], as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense.” The Second Amendment was subsequently held applicable to the States. See McDonald, 561 U.S. at 791, 130 S.Ct. 3020. The defendant argues that the United States Constitution gives one possessing a handgun the right to utilize it in self-defense, even where he or she could retreat in safety without increasing the danger to his or her own life. There is no basis in law or history for this view. Where one can retreat in safety, it is not necessary to utilize deadly force in self-defense. Defendant’s counsel conceded as much at oral argument. Here, the defendant was in a public place and in possession of an unlicensed handgun. Even assuming that the defendant had a constitutional right to use his firearm in self-defense if necessary, it did not give him, or anyone, the right to utilize a firearm in self-defense when it is unnecessary, for example, when one can safely retreat as required by the defense of self under Massachusetts law. Commonwealth v. Leoner-Aguirre, 94 Mass. App. Ct. 581, 583-84 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018)
Among the best protections for your Second Amendment rights is to be a knowledgeable and responsible gun owner.
Fight or flight? What is your plan when you need to make a decision as to whether to draw your weapon or escape from the situation?
If you choose to escape the situation, and not draw your weapon, you will avoid making a second critical decision as to whether to use that weapon.
Escaping the situation without the use of your weapon could save you upwards of tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention the time taken when your actions and decisions are called into question by Police and Lawyers.
Quite simply, while you need to know what you’re going to do before you walk out of Bigelow Mart, you should have already considered the mater before you even went in.
One of the best protections for your Second Amendment rights is to be an educated, knowledgeable and responsible gun owner
DISCLAIMER: This and other segments posted on this website are offered for, educational informational and discussion purposes only and is not offered as legal advice. .