Laws Covering Armed, Self-Defense.

  If you are going to arm yourself or train others in armed, self-defense, you must understan and follow the laws which apply to armed, self-defense. These laws are referred to as 'stand your ground' or 'castle doctrine' laws and they differ both as specific statutes or jurisprudence (court decisions) in specific jurisdictions. 

  In most jurisdictions, there are five criteria which need to be satisfied in order to mount and sustain a claim for armed, self-defense:
     1. Innocence. The user of armed force was not the initial aggressor and did not initiate the incident which led to the use of armed force.
      2. Imminence. The incident happened in real time and was not a future, speculative event.
      3. Proportionate. The level of force was proportionate to the force used or threatened by the aggressor. For example, one cannot use armed force to respond to a verbal insult or threat.
      4. Retreat. In some but not all jurisdictions one cannot use armed force unless that individual first attempted but was unable to retreat in a safe way.
      5. Reasonableness. The behavior must be how a 'reasonable' person would have reacted in a similar situation.

  Armed, self-defense is not and should not be an unquestioned, first response. Armed, self-defense should always be a final and therefore necessary response.