Yesterday, Governor Scott Walker signed into law important self-defense legislation for the citizens of Wisconsin. Commonly known as the “Castle Doctrine,” Assembly Bill 69 will provide essential protections for law-abiding citizens who defend themselves and their families from a criminal looking to do them harm. This new law took effect immediately.
“Castle Doctrine” establishes the presumption that an individual who forcibly enters one’s home, business or occupied motor vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm, and allows the use of force, including deadly force, against that person. This bill also eliminates any “duty to retreat” so that law-abiding citizens no longer must turn their back on a criminal and try to run when attacked.
Finally, AB 69 provides that any person who uses force, authorized by law, shall not be prosecuted for using such force and also prohibits criminals and their families from suing victims for injuring or killing the criminals who have attacked them. In short, it restores rights to law-abiding people and forces judges and prosecutors to focus on protecting victims.
Please contact Governor Walker at [email protected] to thank him for signing Assembly Bill 69 into law and the right to self-defense for Wisconsinites.