A woman gets off her shift of work at midnight. She is walking out to her car in a parking lot with no street lamps on a dark, overcast night. She finds her car only by pressing the unlock button on her key fob, lighting her headlights. She approaches her car and opens the passenger door as an assailant emerges from the dark. As she lays her purse on the passenger seat, he latches onto her arm. The woman has no form of defense and any chance to break free and flee has been forfeited. The assailant has complete control over her and is free to do whatever he desires. This situation has occurred numerous times across the world. However, the result of it does not have to be the inevitable end. With some instruction, that …show more content…
Self-defense is an effective way to reduce or even remove a threat in a confrontation. By performing a successful counter attack, one could leave a would-be assailant sprawling on the ground in pain, at which point the defender could call the police and allow them to relinquish the threat effectively. Self-defense also allows fleeing to be more practical. By ideally inflicting pain on the attacker, it leaves him or her weakened and makes the escape effortless. This is desirable when the offender is physically fit and adrenaline pumped. In this condition, the assailant would be much stronger and able to run farther and faster than many of his or her victims. Ultimately, any action that could halt the offender’s advances could easily reduce the chance of injury or even death. The right of self-defense is protected by the Second Amendment. As stated by the American Civil Liberties Union, the second amendment provides “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed” (as cited in “Second,” 2008, Para. 1). This amendment has mostly been interpreted two ways; one being that those in an organized militia are the ones who are able to possess guns, the other being that all people are able to “keep and bear arms” under an organized militia (as cited in “Supreme,” n.d., para. 17; “Second,” 2008,
I can also recall when a weapon has helped me in self defense. I was on vacation in Florida going to my cousin’s sweet sixteen party. I was having a good time dancing, eating and having a few drinks. All of a sudden some of my cousin’s classmates started showing up and they weren’t invited. Then they started to be disrespectful and harassing people at the party, we asked them to leave but they looked angry and I smelled trouble. So they
Define self-defense? Self-defense is when someone protects them self from harm way. In the novel of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Johnny Cade has been carrying a concealed weapon on him everytime he went outside. When he and Ponyboy Curtis walk down the streets they were ambushed by Socs. When Bob, the reason why Johnny is carrying a weapon, decides to drown his friend, out of self-defense Johnny stabbed Bob. Johnny was still innocent because he stabbed Bob due to self-defense, to scare off the other Soc, and to save Ponyboy from drowning.
As we sit there, trying to get the person behind us to realize we aren't moving, he begins to flash his lights at us. We sit there, our moods changing from happy and excited to aggravated and annoyed while we wait for this person to understand that we aren’t moving. In the darkness of the night I wonder how late it is. I look down at the clock and it says 7:48.
Self-defense is described in the dictionary as; “the act of defending one 's person when physically attacked, as by countering blows or overcoming an assailant” (“self-defense,” n.d.). The concept of self-defense appears well-defined; however, the tactics allowed to protect oneself have evolved just as America has. As technology and weaponry advance, the need for clearer laws pertaining to the actions allowed by an individual need to be reevaluated and clearly communicated. Starting in early colonial times and moving through history, there is a great deal of differences between the self-defense that was once permitted and what is acceptable and tolerated today.
For an attack to be considered self-defense it must apply to four requirements. The first is unprovoked attacks in which the defender has to have not started or provoked the attack. In Goldilocks case this is held because she was attempting to leave when Prince Charming saw and forcibly locked her inside. The second requirement is necessity which is, “also known as the “choice of evils,” reflects popular moral intuitions and common sense: sometimes, breaking the rules is the right—indeed, the only—thing to do in order to avoid a greater evil” (Bergelson, 2012). In Goldilocks case this choice of evils was a fact in both acts the burglary where she was given a choice to either starve to death or break into a home so she can eat. The other instance was the Prince Charming reaching for his walking stick that he uses to constantly physically abuse her and the choice to defend herself. The third element of self-defense is proportionality which is the ability of a defender to use deadly force if no deadly force is not enough to repel the oncoming attack with no excessive force (Samaha, 2011). In Goldilocks case Prince Charming is not only bigger and stronger than her she was in no state where she could run away or hide she had no choice. The last requirement is reasonable belief which is the belief that it was necessary to use deadly force to repel the imminent deadly attack (Samaha, 2011). In Goldilocks case she was in a position where she was going to have to fight for her life and the only way should would have made it out alive was by using the
“The lawful defense of such person or of another, when the person using force reasonably believes such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another."
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” said Wayne LaPierre, a top executive at the National Rifle Association (NRA).
The United States Constitution is a social contract between the U.S. government and its citizens, which promises their [the citizens’] rights and liberties will be protected. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that every citizen has the Right to Bear Arms; moreover, it means that an individual has the right to defend him or herself from physical harm. States are passing Stand Your Ground laws, which are similar to the Castle Doctrine (one has the right to defend oneself in the confines of his or her home), but the Stand Your Ground laws extend the range; instead, people may defend themselves using deadly force in any area they are permitted access (Jealous, 2013; Cox, 2013; Moore, 2012). Stand Your Ground laws contain flaws wherein predators or vigilantes may twist the law to their benefit, yet the Stand Your Ground laws are meant to justify the deeds victims must perform in order to defend themselves. Stand Your Ground laws are beneficial through their fundamental purpose, but how defendants are abusing the laws and how critics claim that the presence of a gun influences the victim’s decisions during an attack are detrimental to the enhancement of the laws.
My first claim is that guns help more in self defense if it was under the Second Amendment than it would do more harm. According to the Gun Owners of America self defense using firearms are used at least 2.5 million times a year, the majority of these cases usually involve the carrier brandishing or showing their firearms to scare their attackers away, only 8 percent of the time is someone is shot and killed in a act of self defense. Also It was statistically proven as said by Concealed Nation
“After a few more glimpse, she picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest. Within second she disappeared into a cross street”(Staples, Brent 301) and “I often witness that “hunch posture” from women after dark on the warren-like streets of Brooklyn where I live. They seem to set their faces on neutral with their purse strung across their chests bandolier style, they forge ahead as though bracing themselves against being tackled” (Staples, Brent 302), both show the approaches people take to protect themselves from harm. They are trying to either protect themselves from a possible attack or trying to swerve away their traducer, which can be termed as self defense. But, while self-defense is simply the protection of oneself, under what circumstances is it appropriate and what actions can be termed self-defense is a debatable topic. Self defense is a subconscious or conscious action taken by an individual to protect himself or someone else from immediate threat of physical harm or verbal threat of physical harm(given the possibility of the attacker to inflict the damage),which should not exceed the amount of physical damage that the assaulter has
The first encounter of the woman and the officer resulted with the woman's humiliation not only racist, but also in a sexually discriminating way in front of her husband. Her reaction to this incident and the discussion she has had with her husband even makes her marriage become on the rocks. The next day when she gets frustrated by her husband, after a failing attempt for dialogue, she gets involved in a car accident and gets stuck in her car. She reacts aggressively after seeing that the racist, sexually perverted police officer is actually trying to get her out of the car. After a while of resistance to the officer, she gives up when she realizes that the car is about to explode in a while. During the attempt of rescue, the flames around the car grow, and the other officers try to get the racist officer out of the car. Here, we can see another climax which creates an impact on both characters and the audience. The police officer gets away from his friends and keeps on trying to save the woman. In this moment we can see how both characters change the way they see each other, as a mutual point of basic contact and decent human communication. After saving the woman's life, it is noticeable that the police officer’s attitude changes along with the rescued woman who didn’t want him to save her at
Defensive force justification defenses arise when individuals threaten interests that are weighty enough to justify protection. Someone responds forcibly to protect the interest, and justification defenses measure the response, asking, for example, were alternative means of responding available? Was the response too extreme given the nature of the threat? These considerations are usually translated into particular defensive force justification doctrines that are each based on different interests that can be legitimately protected by force. Thus, self-defense permits one to fight back when an aggressor threatens physical harm.129 The defense of others permits one to respond forcibly when an aggressor threatens to hurt someone else.130 The defense
2. It protects families and their property from intruders. You cannot defend your loved ones from an armed intruder if you are unarmed. Guns are used as self-defense and are needed whenever the police fail to provide the services of protection to the general public.
Although, when people think of self defense they tend to think that means killing someone if they were to break into their home, but the castle doctrine specifies that, a person may not use deadly force upon another person unless: he or she reasonably believes that such deadly force is necessary to protect himself or herself or another against death, serious physical injury, rape, sodomy or kidnapping or serious physical injury through robbery, burglary or arson or any forcible felony (Senate). You may use excessive force if a person who illegally enters, remains after illegally entering, or attempts to illegally enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle legally occupied by such person. A resident does not have to retreat from his or her home or vehicle when a burglar is breaking and entering.
Denial is another good example of defense mechanism; this is when a person refuses thoughts, wishes, or exterior realities that they wouldn’t be able to cope with if they got into the sentient mind. An example is when I tell my friend that smoking a lot of cigarettes is bad for his health and that it can lead to cancer which graduates into death, he tells me we all have to die someday and why not live in the moment. He enters a stage of denial because the situation is too much for him to handle