Castle Doctrine vs. "Stand Your Ground" vs. Self Defense?

**Schiery24** · July 24th, 2013, 02:52 AM

With all of the self defense, stand your ground, and castle doctrine talk as of late, I began questioning my own knowledge. I did some reading and am still quite confused. I just wanted to see if someone can confirm my understandings. I would greatly appreciate it as it is my personal responsibility to know these laws as I carry.

Castle Doctrine applies when an unlawful person has entered or is entering your dwelling, vehicle, or business while you are in it. With the "Stand your ground" it says the attacker must be armed with a lethal weapon, but if i am in my house, can I legally stop the threat with a firearm even though a weapon was not displayed from the attacker? Must I be threatened with death or serious injury, or not?

Also, I understand the law does not include the body (hands, feet, etc.) as a lethal weapon even though we all know it can be. To keep it simple, say I am in a situation where I am being jumped for no reason walking down the street, and am being beaten in the head non stop. To me, I do not know if the attacker has any means of stopping and leaving me alive, so I would feel threatened of death or serious bodily injury. Under "stand your ground" I can not shoot due to attacker not showing a lethal weapon, but under standard self defense could it be justified? What is the difference between "stand your ground" and self defense?

Any input would be great, I am just trying to differentiate between standard self defense, stand your ground, and castle doctrine. I feel like one says yes and the other says no. Almost makes me scared to defend myself due to possibly being screwed in court because of some minor issue within the law. If it was my way- You come into to my house uninvited, your not leaving. You attack me for no reason, your not breathing. No if, and's or but's.

Thanks!

**father-of-five** · July 24th, 2013, 03:02 AM

You will get varying definitions based on the state's statutes you are reading. Here's Pennsylvania's revised statute. Pennsylvania always had a Castle Doctrine law, however, it was weaker as it now has a "Stand you ground" provision, which I find is the best way to understand the term and keep it in context, unlike most of the media "experts."