This is STAND YOUR GROUND!

[mtraininjax]

In Laveen Arizona a fourteen year old boy shot and seriously wounded an armed intruder with a handgun.

According to new reports the boy was at home with his siblings, ages 8, 10 and 12 when a woman started ringing he door bell then someone started beating on the door.  Something must have told the boy she wasn’t selling magazine subscriptions..

He and the other kids went upstairs and he grabbed a hand gun, buy the time he got back to the top of the stairs with the weapon a man kicked open the door and pointed a rifle at him.  The fourteen year old fired his hand gun, hitting the man and wounding him critically.  The intruder did not get off a shotâ€"

The boys then ran to neighbors house and called for help.

The woman got away, police are looking for her and any other possible suspects.

The suspect is in critical condition but expected to recover, police will not release his name until they book him into jail, expected later in the week.

Police are saying the boy did everything right and may very well have saved the lives of his family.

In the Times Union on Page A-5, where it was spelled correctly, but I pulled this from another site where "Licked" was inserted in Kicked.

[Adam W]

In Laveen Arizona a fourteen year old boy shot and seriously wounded an armed intruder with a handgun.

According to new reports the boy was at home with his siblings, ages 8, 10 and 12 when a woman started ringing he door bell then someone started beating on the door.  Something must have told the boy she wasn’t selling magazine subscriptions..

He and the other kids went upstairs and he grabbed a hand gun, buy the time he got back to the top of the stairs with the weapon a man licked open the door and pointed a rifle at him.  The fourteen year old fired his hand gun, hitting the man and wounding him critically.  The intruder did not get off a shotâ€"

The boys then ran to neighbors house and called for help.

The woman got away, police are looking for her and any other possible suspects.

The suspect is in critical condition but expected to recover, police will not release his name until they book him into jail, expected later in the week.

Police are saying the boy did everything right and may very well have saved the lives of his family.

In the Times Union on Page A-5.

Sure sounds like it to me. But wouldn't existing laws (in FL) have given the boy the right to do what he did, without the need to pass a 'stand your ground law'?

I'm no fan of gun ownership (in the interest of being completely honest here) and probably am more critical of stand your ground laws as a result. But it sounds like the boy did the right thing in this instance and was actually pretty lucky to have that gun to hand. It sounds like it was maybe a home invasion or something. Crazy.

On a side note, I don't think the bad guy 'licked' the door down

[Dog Walker]

This is not "stand your ground", but what is known as the "castle doctrine" i.e. you cannot be required to retreat from your own home.

If this same thing had happened in England and the intruder was unarmed, this young man would be facing prosecution.  Not so here, thank heavens!

[Adam W]

If this same thing had happened in England and the intruder was unarmed, this young man would be facing prosecution.  Not so here, thank heavens!

Aside from the issue of the handgun, not necessarily. That would be up to the CPS. Based on the info presented in the article, I don't think they would indict the boy. As it appears he was using reasonable force to protect himself and would therefore not be prosecuted. If they did, he would probably be acquitted as he was defending himself.

Edit: I see now you put 'if the intruder was unarmed'. That might muddy the water a bit more - it's possible that (if the intruder was unarmed), that it was a simple break-in. But if the boy was threatened and wasn't able to escape, then he might've been able to use deadly force.