For instance, in Canada, the use of force in self-defense is heavily restricted. An individual must demonstrate that they used only as least force as necessary to protect themselves and that they attempted to retreat or de-escalate the situation first. aka “Duty to Retreat”… If a homeowner or business owner injures or kills an intruder, they may face criminal charges and be required to justify their actions in court. While juries are often sympathetic to self-defense claims, prosecutions are still common.
This differs greatly from countries like the United States, where self-defense laws—especially in states with Stand Your Ground or Castle Doctrine statutes—generally allow individuals to use force, including lethal force, without a legal duty to retreat. In contrast, many other countries, including Canada and parts of Europe, impose a duty to retreat and require that force be proportional to the threat.
A recent case involving an Indian exchange student in Canada highlights how these laws can be misunderstood. The student, unaware of Canada’s legal restrictions, may not have realized that using force in self-defense could itself be considered a criminal act.
While a criminal indictment does not always result in a conviction—especially in cases where public sentiment supports the victim—self-defense laws in Canada remain far more restrictive than in many other parts of the world.
Police even told homeowners to leave their keys outside for thugs.
a homeowner charged with murder defended himself against home invasion, a gunman pointed a gun at his mom in his home… the gunman was killed…
I think the laws are far more detailed than that. Even in the US. They can’t just shoot someone on their property. You need to warn them, verbally. Give them a chance etc etc. This is ripe for media skewing.
As they said back in the day in Canada. If you hit someone, finish the job or you get in trouble.
in Italy this even applies to law enforcement officers. Every time they kill in the line of duty someone to protect themselves, there is always a huge backlash and many times, even if they had to protect themselves and the suspect/criminal was armed and already harmed there, they are actually found guilty of manslaughter and hence discharged from the force and sometimes even jailed.
Can’t say we should give free rein to our police force in Italy, we had terrible examples of police brutality (the G8 in Genoa is one of the worst examples, a real disaster) and police still comes from times of rigid enforcement (fascism and then the post-war period to limit communist influence and then the internal terrorism and mafia wars). We still don’t for instance have the mandate for police officers to be easily identifiable when deployed (no identification mark to ascertain their identity, you can just know they are police due to the uniform, but no badge number or warrant card, just a baton coming on your head).
