[upnorthkyosa]

As a part time karate-do instructor, I'm concerned with the laws in NZ that surround defending yourself. Do you have "duty to retreat" laws? Can you use weapons to defend yourself from an attacker(s)? According to NZ laws, what situations warrent the use of force in self defense?

[Cardy]

Hi there cant answer you question i,m afraid i,d not really thought about it here its been so nice and quiet. But got to say i would do anything and i mean anything to protect my family and myself and worry about the possible cosequences later. Hope i never have to . But now you have got me thinking i will look into that.
Cheers Cardy:nice1

[eternalkiwi]

Generally speaking, it is best to use as little 'force' as possible and the use of weapons would usually be not advisable.

You could say the focus of reasonable force is what you need to do to protect yourselves in a life or death situation (not usually just a high risk situation) and not actively doing something to injure others.
Even the NZ Police have to meet similar standards.

In some cases people who use high levels of force are seen as vigilantes, which is discouraged.

There have been 2 or 3 cases from memory (and I doubt any others) where property owners have shot someone and were found to have used reasonable force, but there have been MANY cases where people have protected themselves in their homes or workplaces and been found guilty of assault and other related crimes.

There was a recent case where a guy armed with a machete went to rob a gun shop and the shop manager shot him. The gun shop manager faced a series of criminal charges relating to this, though luckily was able to avoid most of them.

[upnorthkyosa]

Generally speaking, it is best to use as little 'force' as possible and the use of weapons would usually be not advisable.

You could say the focus of reasonable force is what you need to do to protect yourselves in a life or death situation (not usually just a high risk situation) and not actively doing something to injure others.
Even the NZ Police have to meet similar standards.

In some cases people who use high levels of force are seen as vigilantes, which is discouraged.

There have been 2 or 3 cases from memory (and I doubt any others) where property owners have shot someone and were found to have used reasonable force, but there have been MANY cases where people have protected themselves in their homes or workplaces and been found guilty of assault and other related crimes.

There was a recent case where a guy armed with a machete went to rob a gun shop and the shop manager shot him. The gun shop manager faced a series of criminal charges relating to this, though luckily was able to avoid most of them.

We have similar stories over here in the US depending on which state you live in. Some states are far more lax then others...like Texas...in which it is basically OK to shoot someone if they break into your house.

Anyway, we all want to live peacefully and heaven forbid something like this ever happen, but its important to at least be familiar with some of these laws. Basically, knowing when the law says it is appropriate to use force and how much force you can use, gives you a guideline as to how you should train yourself in self defense.

[Super_BQ]

I remember last year on the news, a farmer caught the person who repeatedly robbed his farm shed out in the paddock. The farmer was fed up and used a weapon to injure the burgular. At the end the farmer lost and the burgular was compensated. Can you call thie justice? The issue was even broadcasted on programs like Fair Go and the such.

As eternalkiwi pointed out, there are 'few' cases where a defending person used forced and faced no criminal charges. But there are several if not countless of cases where the defendant was guilty of assult. My assumption is that the laws of NZ are based on 'precedant' cases - therefore best to use minimal force as possible.

The better question to ask is, are such crime rates increasing over the past decades? Perhaps someone can dig up some crime stats for NZ.

If I was a burgular, I would think twice of breaking into a house if I knew the owners had guns and can shoot at will. The real issue arises when burgulars carry guns and when he faces a defenseless owner of the house, well the whole place is to his picking.... and you can be sure they'll hit another house next week.

The marvel about the US is the variety of choice. If you believe in your right to bear arms and protect your family by shooting a burgular (threatening to kill your family), you can easily move to the state that allows this. For those that are very conservative and believe people should not bear arms, then there are plenty of other states you can move to.

[stu70]

The marvel about the US is the variety of choice. If you believe in your right to bear arms and protect your family by shooting a burgular (threatening to kill your family), you can easily move to the state that allows this. For those that are very conservative and believe people should not bear arms, then there are plenty of other states you can move to.
One of the very reasons why we would not want to live in the USA even though I get paid almost 70% more by going a few hours drive to the south. They have crazy gun laws, and their justice system is far from being just. I once spoke to a black hunter down in Mississippi while there on business and he said it was not uncommon for white hunters to "settle" scores with blacks during hunting trips. It would pass as a hunting accident. I agree with right to self defence and it is enshrined in Canadian CJS but it is never a good idea to "duke it out" as part of the DIY package . I know some will disagree but I also strongly believe that gun culture of America IS the reason for their crazy crime rates. Thank GOD I am Canadian.