If you’re looking for a good resource to keep an eye on the Georgia General Assembly, I strongly recommend Liberty Watch from the Libertarian Party of Georgia Public Policy committee. This dedicated watchdog team puts together a fantastic summary of bills coming down the pipe that are of concern for liberty lovers, for good or ill. They’ve just published their first report to Substack, so I have to give them a shout-out. I’ve taken a look at the first ugly bill they’ve tagged, and here’s my own two cents:
HB 842 - "Georgia Shoot First Act" creating a duty to retreat
It’s bad enough to be a victim of a home invasion or other attack, to have to defend yourself, and to have your attacker lose their life in the process. No sane person wants to take a life, even in self-defense. Having a prosecutor and a jury play Armchair Quarterback to decide whether you did it right just adds insult to injury.
The first questionable text in this bill is at line 39, where it adds the following condition in which a person is “not justified in using force”:
[He or she] Knows he or she can avoid using force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm with complete safety by removing himself or herself from such circumstances.
This law is expecting that someone who is being attacked, likely by a stranger, with no warning, in a moment which will likely be marked with fear and uncertainty, can know whether another possibility may lead to safety. To know whether their attacker will suffer harm from the self-defense. It’s bad enough that the survivor of an attack is likely going to be asking themselves a number of what-ifs. Now the court is going to do it as well?
Moving on down to line 62:
If the local law enforcement agency declines to effect an arrest, or if the office of the district attorney declines to file charges, pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section, the local law enforcement agency or agencies shall submit a report which documents all investigative efforts to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which shall, in consultation with the office of the Attorney General, determine whether further investigation is warranted.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall publish on its publicly accessible website on an annual basis a report detailing the number of cases involving all use of force claims where a local law enforcement agency declined to file charges or a district attorney declined to effect an arrest pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section.
On the one hand, I’ve heard of cases where a (usually race-related) case wasn’t initially prosecuted until news came out, only to find later that it was more like a lynching than true self-defense. In those cases, yes, move it up the chain. But if it is a real case of self defense, do state investigators really need to get involved? I see a potential unintended consequence in which victims who defend themselves are arrested just so that local authorities can avoid looking bad when the reports come out. There has to be a better way.
And finally there is this last portion around line 122, relating to civil immunity. This text is in current Georgia law, and this bill would remove it in full:
A person who is justified in threatening or using force against another under the provisions of Code Section 16-3-21, relating to the use of force in defense of self or others, Code Section 16-3-23, relating to the use of force in defense of a habitation, or Code Section 16-3-24, relating to the use of force in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat from the use of such force and shall not be held liable to the person against whom the use of force was justified or to any person acting as an accomplice or assistant to such person in any civil action brought as a result of the threat or use of such force
In other words, if I am defending myself or someone else, and you or your family member gets hurt, you can’t sue me for your injury. Or at least if you do, it won’t hold up in court.
Self-defense instructors will tell you that engaging in violence should be a last resort. If you can run away, run away. If you can hide, hide. But if you have to fight back, don’t hold back until you know they can’t do any more harm. Fight dirty if you have to. Kick ‘em where it hurts. Take control of the situation. Holding back can get you killed.
And yes, this goes for defense against thieves as well. If someone has the gall to break into my house, I don’t know how crazy they are. I can’t tell that they only want to take my stuff, that they won’t do worse to my wife or my kids.
If someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill ‘em right back. - Mal Reynolds, Firefly
Please contact your state representatives and urge them to reject this bill. Victims who are forced to defend themselves against violence shouldn’t have to turn around and defend themselves in court.
To keep up with this and more activity in the state legislature, please follow The Liberty Watch Report: