i think hicarry makes a lot of sense. just be sure if u shoot them u kill them so theres only one side of the story to tell.
Thanks, just remember, you shot to stop the threat. Not to kill. And, that should come out in the legal arena, under the supervision of your lawyer, not at the scene. The only thing that should be said at the time of the shooting is: I was in fear of my life and I think I am too upset to talk right now. And then wait for your lawyer.
And, in response to tonsofguns: I don't want you to misunderstand my position here. If you feel there is a threat, then take the appropriate action as you see fit. And no, you do not have to wait to be assaulted before you can assume a legitimate threat to your life or health is exists. As a matter of fact, there is a commentary to HRS 703-304, that says "The actor may make his defensive move without waiting for his assailant to load his gun or to summon reinforcements" clearly indicating that principle. All I am saying is that you must be careful should you find yourself in the situation where there may be a question of a legitimate threat (as defined in the statutory language). And you are right, many "self-defense experts" recognize that threats can come from many different items (guns, knives, bats, etc.) and that distance from the potential threat and ability of the perpetrator to carry out the threat are key to determining the level and veracity of the threat. My only concern in discussing this bill is that no one goes away thinking that they can shoot (or otherwise "defend" themselves with lethal force) based merely on the fact that someone was on their property with some type of weapon absent some other evidence of a credible threat.
Another example might be that you wake up one night to see what appears to be a "civillian" armed with a gun walking around your home. He appears to be looking for something, but is not actively trying to get into your house. Do you shoot? Based on the facts as I described, assume you do. Are you immune from civil liability and can you utilize a self-defense claim? I say it depends, but it would be unlikely that you'd be successful in claiming either. Now, assume that the person you shot was a plain clothes police office searching for a criminal or your new neighbor who had just chased off an intruder and was looking for them while waiting for the police to show up. Now, any claim of self defense or attempt to claim civil immunity is sure to fail because in both cases there was no crime being committed and your decision to shoot would likely not be deemed "reasonable" under the circumstances.