Castle Law

TORONTO — Conservative MPs introduced a private member’s bill Thursday aimed at strengthening legal protections for Canadians who use force against intruders inside their homes.

The proposed legislation, titled the Stand on Guard Act, would amend Section 34 of the Criminal Code to presume that force used against a person who knowingly and unlawfully enters a home is justified unless evidence proves otherwise.

(Incognito)

The number of legally sanctioned homicides has grown substantially in states with expanded self-defense rights under stand-your-ground laws

It’s easier than ever to kill someone in America and get away with it.

In 30 states, it often requires only a claim you killed while protecting yourself or others.

While Americans have long been free to use deadly force to defend themselves at home, so-called stand-your-ground laws in those 30 states extend legal protections to public places and make it difficult for prosecutors to file homicide charges against anyone who says they killed in self-defense.

The number of legally sanctioned homicides by civilians in the 30 stand-your-ground states has risen substantially in recent years, The Wall Street Journal found in an analysis of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In Canada, if people can’t successfully “hide” from criminals, police officials are advising crime victims to “comply” with a criminal’s demands. Jim MacSween, the chief of York Regional Police since 2020 who oversees 1.2 million residents living in York Region, warned residents not to attempt to confront intruders but to comply with the criminal until law enforcement arrives.

We’ve been having a debate about self-defence and castle laws in Canada over the past few months. Some are saying we need to pass castle law legislation while others say that’s not the Canadian way.

Not the Canadian way? Who made that BS Up?

I don’t sleep with a pistol under my pillow. But I do have a properly stored shotgun on the premises.

If you invade my home, if you are posing an imminent threat to me or my loved ones, I will probably shoot you.

And if I can’t get to the shotgun and the cartridges under the circumstances, I’ve got a baseball bat close to hand.

York Region Police Chief Jim MacSween sought to walk back the controversial “guidance” he issued in the wake of a recent surge in violent home invasions, including the murder of 49-year-old Abdul Aleem Farooqi on Friday.

In a statement, MacSween extended condolences to Farooqi’s family and acknowledged the anger sparked by his earlier remarks.

“Your home is your castle.” That was Pierre Poilievre last Friday, calling for changes to the Criminal Code making it legal for people at home to use whatever force they like against an intruder. The Conservatives have a private member’s bill coming to that effect, to be called, inevitably, the Stand On Guard Act.

The bill is in hot pursuit of the recent charging of an Ontario man for allegedly stabbing a crossbow-wielding intruder half to death. As explained in a recent column, current Canadian law – passed by the Harper Conservatives – allows for the use of force in self-defence so far as it is “reasonable in the circumstances,” the burden of proof being on the Crown to prove that it was unreasonable.