Legal experts: Tennessee’s ‘stand your ground’ law not simple
NASHVILLE — It’s a sunny Saturday morning in Bellevue as 10 women register for the required class that will allow them to get Tennessee handguncarry permits.
Many are taking the class to better protect themselves and their families. More than half of gun owners nationally say protection is a primary reason they own their weapons.
“I think most people, from an early age, have an innate notion they have a right to protect themselves,” said Nashville attorney John Harris, who has taught and lectured on the use of deadly force and volunteers as executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. But getting from there to what is legal to do in selfdefense is complicated.
What those women will not learn is how they can legally use their gun to protect themselves, their home or their family without the possibility of going to jail.
In fact, legal experts say, Tennessee’s laws are so open to interpretation that two people engaged in identical self-defense shootings could be treated very differently by police, prosecutors and the courts.
People tend to believe they won’t be charged with a crime if they shoot an intruder in their home. But that’s not an automatic conclusion under state law.
Tennessee is among so-called “stand your ground” states in which people don’t have to retreat before using force to defend themselves. But the law isn’t simple to apply.
The state self-defense statute covers both use of force and threatened use. Self-defenders cannot themselves be engaging in illegal activities and must have a right to be where they are. They must reasonably believe force is needed immediately for protection, they must use a proportionate amount of force and they need not retreat before using force, the statute states.
A separate provision on using deadly force states defenders also must reasonably believe there’s an imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Again, retreat is not required.
Finally, the Tennessee statute offers additional protection for defenders who are inside their residence, business, dwelling or vehicle, when someone has unlawfully and forcibly entered it.
There are exceptions to using deadly force in the home; for example, when defenders use force against someone they know or should have known was a law enforcement officer.
What amounts to reasonable fear of death or serious bodily harm depends on the circumstances, attorneys say.
“A subjective fear is not sufficient,” said Andrew Jay McClurg, professor of law and Herff Chair of Excellence at the University of Memphis School of Law. “It has to be a ‘reasonable’ fear as determined by the objective external circumstances. In other words, it would not be enough that [a person] was personally in fear for his life if a ‘reasonable person’ would not have been.”
If someone calls 911 to report they have shot someone who broke into their home, police will be involved.
They’ll come to the house, talk to the person who fired the shot, talk to witnesses and gather evidence from the scene, said Knoxville Police Department Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk. Evidence can include surveillance videos, ballistics tests and blood samples to test for impairment.
“There are so many factors on the front side of an investigation,” he said, adding that facts often aren’t clear cut, so prosecutors can’t make decisions immediately.
Police also will contact the district attorney’s office during the investigation to let them know what has happened. Police conduct the investigation, and prosecutors ultimately decide whether to prosecute anyone, DeBusk said.
Cathy Gurley, chief executive officer of You Have The Power, a Nashville victims’ advocacy and rights group, adds that stand your ground laws “make me very cautious [because of] how fast these incidents can escalate. While you may have the best intentions, you don’t really know how you are going to react when you’re surprised or half-asleep.”