written PA state legislation on self defense with a firearm

[chucksniper]

Hi All,
can anyone direct me to a PA legislative website for guidelines on
laws about the use of legal firearms self defense. Unless it's just common sense and I have to use common sense. Maybe I've lived tooo long in Jersey.

[son of the revolution]

Hi All,
can anyone direct me to a PA legislative website for guidelines on
laws about the use of legal firearms self defense. Unless it's just common sense and I have to use common sense. Maybe I've lived tooo long in Jersey.

Um chuck , the website your looking for is uh .................................................. ...............the one your on !!!!


Im from Jersey also , bout a 1/2 hour South of you and you will find NO better resource on PA Firearms Laws then right here ! Just check the various stickies at the top of the threads in each topic and I guarentee you'll find everything you need to know. You can also just type " Self Defense Laws " or something similar into the search box .

[knight0334]

Hi All,
can anyone direct me to a PA legislative website for guidelines on
laws about the use of legal firearms self defense. Unless it's just common sense and I have to use common sense. Maybe I've lived tooo long in Jersey.

The subsection 505 area of this page has the legal text.

http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/


Here is the general gist of things though..

Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground in PA:

Castle Doctrine - one's home(and place of work in PA): PA does have probably 90% of full blown Castle Doctrine as coded statute, and practices it in common law. You have no duty to retreat from your home or place of work, unless you were the aggressor and/or the other person has a lawful right to be there as well. The only thing that PA lacks with true "Castle Doctrine" is the assumption that the person unlawfully entering your home is doing so to do harm. You must believe that you are at immediate risk of serious bodily injury, death, rape or kidnapping before using deadly force. However, there is a provision under the Protection of Property section of law to stop unlawful entries if a felony is committed within a dwelling. And also a PA Supreme Court ruling stating deadly force may be used if all attempts to effect an arrest for a forcible type felony fail(Commonwealth v. Chermansky 1968, reaffirmed in Kopko v. Miller 2005).

Stand Your Ground - anywhere else in PA: PA lacks this type of provision allowing you to meet force with force anywhere. However, PA does grant one's place of work as a extension to the Castle Doctrine. Any place else you must retreat if you can do so "in complete safety" before using force. If you cannot retreat with complete safety, or are faced with immediate deadly force, risk of serious bodily injury, rape, or kidnapping - you may use deadly force to protect yourself.

Protection of Others: You may use force to protect another if they are in the same situation as you would be required to be in before using deadly force as described in the Stand Your Ground section above. Sort of a "in their shoes" type provision.

Civil Liabilities: This is usually added on with "Stand Your Ground" provisions. PA lacks such protections in our laws and you may face civil lawsuits even if the use of force is justified.