The guest speaker at the noon Lions Club meeting on July 6 was Deputy Ryan Barnette. Barnette has over 15 years of professional experience in law enforcement and is the creator of Nine and One Tactical, a mindset and tactics based training company that offers realistic firearms and personal defense training. Barnette spoke specifically on the legal issues associated with using lethal force.
Lethal force is defined as the amount of force that will cause death or great bodily harm. This covers many possibilities including shooting someone, running them down with a car, or pushing them off a building. A person does not need to die in order for lethal force to be in effect.
Barnette has boiled all the legal jargon down to three words and a question.
“There are three things that have to be present for lethal force to be legal and justified,” said Barnette. “Those three things are ability, intent, and opportunity. When am I legally authorized to use lethal force? The answer to that is those three words. When the bad guy, the offender, the attacker has the ability, the opportunity, and the intent to cause you or another innocent person death or great bodily harm. It’s really that simple.”
Barnette went on to share some scenarios in which one of the three factors was missing, and clarify some points. For example, an elderly man using a walker who is threatening to beat someone with a roll of nickels in a sock may have the intent and opportunity to cause harm, but he could easily be evaded, so the ability is not present. Intent does not need to be spoken but can be shown through actions. For example, a large man who attacks a small woman and begins to viciously beat her would be considered to have the intent to do great bodily harm even without saying a word. A person who calls and tells you that he’s coming to blow up your house may have the intent and ability to harm you but lacks the opportunity to harm you at the time the threat was made. You could easily leave your home and call the police.
The use of lethal force is not legally justifiable to protect property, so if you find someone trying to burn down your house, and no one is in the house, you cannot legally justify shooting them.
“Before you press the trigger, before you pull that knife, before you bludgeon somebody with a fire extinguisher, before you use lethal force on anyone, the only thing you really need to think about is this: whose life am I about to save? If there is no answer readily available for that question, lethal force is not justified,” said Barnette.
“You have a right to your life. You have a right to protect your life, even with lethal force, unless and until you do something to forfeit your own right to be here.”
The Lions Club, a premier service organization whose motto is “We Serve,” has interesting speakers every Thursday. They meet at noon at the American Legion Memorial Hall at 119 Pine Street.