Legal Question About Firearms on Public School Property.

[gh1950]

This is one area where I'm not 100% sure... I BELIEVE if the shooting is a true self defense scenario, that the law stipulates that you can not be charged with carrying a weapon in an off limits location. Again, please double check this...

You misreading the law. There is no law that says that you can't be arrested. There is no law that says that you can't be tried for the crime for which you were arrested. Don't take my word, ask George Zimmerman. The law says self defense is a "defense"--it doesn't say that it is a "bar" to prosecution-- two entirely different legal concepts.

The law doesn't state who or when in the process the determination that it is a defense is to be made. Shooting someone in a "true self defense scenario" isn't a "Get out of jail free" card. The determination of whether it was "true self defense" and therefor a "complete defense" to whatever charge, will always ultimately be made by some trier of fact -- a judge or jury. That's why knowledgeable commentators will always emphasize that that the situation will not be determined by what you know or what you think you know, but by what some third party determines a reasonable person would have done in that situation. We all like to think we are "reasonable person" but you are literally betting your life that some third party will agree with you.

 

[Ken Ford]

You misreading the law. There is no law that says that you can't be arrested. There is no law that says that you can't be tried for the crime for which you were arrested. Don't take my word, ask George Zimmerman. The law says self defense is a "defense"--it doesn't say that it is a "bar" to prosecution-- two entirely different legal concepts.

The law doesn't state who or when in the process the determination that it is a defense is to be made. Shooting someone in a "true self defense scenario" isn't a "Get out of jail free" card. The determination of whether it was "true self defense" and therefor a "complete defense" to whatever charge, will always ultimately be made by some trier of fact -- a judge or jury. That's why knowledgeable commentators will always emphasize that that the situation will not be determined by what you know or what you think you know, but by what some third party determines a reasonable person would have done in that situation. We all like to think we are "reasonable person" but you are literally betting your life that some third party will agree with you.

Just like on this site. You will be judged by people that will be analyzing your case with the luxury of time, hind site and facts that you did not have before pulling the trigger.

 

[MRM]

Wait, I have to go look it up, but, the verbiage is often that the person is exempt from the law if it is Self defense. As far as an off limits location, I don't know. I remember the language being in reference to a carry permit.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

You can carry in a school zone AFTER you've seen a situation develop where you need a gun to defend innocent life.
You cannot carry on campus "just in case" you might need it.
If you happened to illegally carry at school and the only reason the cops found out about it was that you pulled it for just cause, I think you can STILL be prosecuted for the illegal carrying you were doing before the justification came up.
But I have heard well-informed cops and attorneys say that you still have s defense to all charges, so the answer is at least in doubt.

Prosecutorial discretion may come into play here. What elected DIstrict Attorney would want to charge a hero with a gun law crime for saving kids' lives and stopping a bad guy on campus?