{"id":101571,"date":"2024-04-26T19:38:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T00:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=101571"},"modified":"2024-04-26T19:38:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T00:38:02","slug":"101571","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=101571","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indiana Prosecutor Laments That Self-Defense Laws Exist, Protect Defensive Gun Users.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Apparently, some Indianapolis public officials have forgotten how their own self-defense laws work and why they exist in the first place.<\/p>\n

In an interview that\u2019s equal parts amusing and alarming, Indiana\u2019s Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears recently\u00a0lamented an increase<\/a>\u00a0in self-defense shootings in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

Mears complained to reporters that shootings involving self-defense claims are challenging to prosecute. This \u201cmean[s] that someone lost their life\u201d and \u201cthat case might ultimately be cleared\u201d without the shooter being charged, he said.<\/p>\n

Mears also implied that\u00a0defensive gun users\u00a0<\/a>who can\u2019t be prosecuted are just as bad as the criminals they shot, simply by virtue of the fact that both parties were armed.<\/p>\n

With all due respect to Mears, the county prosecutor seems to miss the point.<\/p>\n

As in virtually every other state, Indiana law justifies the use of deadly force only when a person has a reasonable belief that such force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury, commission of a forcible felony, or unlawful entry into a home or vehicle.<\/p>\n

Moreover, a person generally can\u2019t rely on the protection of self-defense laws if he or she was\u00a0committing a crime<\/a>\u00a0or fleeing after committing one, provoked the threat, or engaged in \u201cmutual combat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, to the extent that self-defense shootings are difficult to prosecute, it\u2019s because there\u2019s pretty good evidence that the shooter was morally and legally justified in doing what he did.<\/p>\n

You would think that someone like Mears would comprehend this, given his position as a prosecutor.<\/p>\n

The importance of armed self-defense can\u2019t be overstated. Almost every major study has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between\u00a0500,000 and 3 million<\/a>\u00a0times annually, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2021, the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the issue concluded that\u00a0roughly 1.6 million defensive gun uses<\/a>\u00a0occur in the United States every year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes a monthly article highlighting some of the previous month\u2019s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed\u2014or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place. (Read other accounts\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0from past years.)<\/p>\n

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in March. You may explore more using The Heritage Foundation\u2019s interactive\u00a0Defensive Gun Use Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(The Daily Signal is the news and commentary outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)<\/p>\n