Airborne Combat Engineer

New state laws expand right of self defense

At least 14 states have revised their laws to ensure that people don't have to retreat from an attacker. Those states are: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, according to the NRA.

Most states let authorities determine whether deadly force was reasonable, even inside the home. But the new laws create an automatic presumption that a person is justified in using deadly force to ward off an attacker in just about any public place.

"We believe that self-defense is an innate human right and the law should never put the innocent victim of a crime in a position of having to second-guess themselves," said Ashley Varner, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, which pushed for the laws.

ABC News

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When Ahwatukee Ryan Altieri heard knocking at the door of his quiet Arizona townhouse Monday evening he thought it might be a salesman. Turns out it wasn't anything nearly as innocent.

But, he was prepared, and defended himself and his condo without shooting anyone. Read how in the continuation.

If he'd only called 911, he'd been robbed (in all likelihood), and possibly shot before the cops arrived to investigate and write up a report.

Have you planned what you would do in such a situation?

Criminals buy guns for offense. Law-abiding citizens buy guns for defense and recreation. If they can deter crime and protect without being fired, that's all the better! (and a lot less legal hassle).

This is the first of a new series of posts (like "What's The Firearm?" and "Accidental/Negligent Shootings") which focus on one subject. The Defense series will focus on real-world examples of people defending themselves; their loved ones or others; and their homes, cars and other properties against criminals (using alarm systems, firearms, kitchen knives, hammers, baseball bats, dogs, fists, threats, kindness, or whatever).