A California bill that would restrict the use of lethal force to defend people’s property from criminals could be heard by a legislative committee March 24.
Assembly Bill 1333, by Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, a Democrat representing Santa Monica, would eliminate certain circumstances under which homicide is justifiable, including if the person was defending a residence or property or trying to prevent someone from committing a felony.
The legislation, introduced in February, also states homicide is not justifiable when “more force than was reasonably necessary” was used to defend against danger, according to the bill’s proposed text.
In addition, it restricts lethal action when a person is “outside of their residence and knew that using force likely to cause death or great bodily injury could have been avoided with complete safety by retreating,” among other restrictions.
LEXIT, a group representing the conservative Latino movement in the United States, said the bill “would eviscerate the ‘castle doctrine,’ meaning that you could no longer protect your property,” according to a video shared on March 1 on the social media group X by the group.
The castle doctrine, also called the “stand your ground” common law principle, states that a person is justified in the use of deadly force to protect his or her home and its inhabitants from intruders, without being obliged to retreat.