![]() In 2004, the Georgia Supreme Court weighed in on this very issue in a case called Hammock v. ![]() What if you’re not in your home? What if you’re on vacation? Does a rental property become your habitation? What about a hotel room? The answer is yes, in Georgia. These rules apply to your home, your car, and your place of business (meaning a business you own if you work for someone, the business owner can restrict carry in the business). There is no duty or requirement to retreat. The Stand Your Ground statute grants a person who uses threats or force in defense of self or others, in defense of a habitation, or in defense of property other than a habitation (the land your habitation sits on, or a rental type property), the right to stand his or her ground and to use force as allowed by law, including deadly force. Georgia’s Stand Your Ground statute is found in Ga. In these Castle Doctrine circumstances, the law will justify the use of force or even deadly force based upon a person’s reasonable belief that force or deadly force was necessary to defend against force inside his or her habitation. If you are the victim of unlawful force or deadly force when you are in your dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business, these places are your castle, and the law will protect you in the use of deadly force. § 16-3-24.1 as “any dwelling, motor vehicle, or place of business…” Georgia law in defining Castle Doctrine rights does not use the term “home” or “house ” the term employed is “habitation.” A habitation is defined by Ga. § 16-3-23: Use of force in defense of habitation. In Georgia, the Castle Doctrine is found in Ga. No king or queen is required to retreat before using force or deadly force against an intruder in their castle. ![]() The term “Castle Doctrine” does not appear in Georgia law the concept is an ancient one that every person is the king or queen of his or her “castle” (the home). Let’s look at what makes your habitation a special place, and what Georgia law allows you to do to defend your castle. In the third location, you are in your habitation (your “castle”) and Georgia law treats your possession and use of a firearm in your habitation (and you, when you’re in it) quite differently from a public location. The difference is that in the first two locations, you’re in a public place, and carry there requires a license and certain pre-existing conditions if you use that firearm in defense. In a movie theater or grocery store without a WCL? Without any special exceptions, yes. We live in a world where the legal system may treat you and your actions differently depending on where you possess a weapon, or where you use it to protect your family or yourself.įor instance, in Georgia, the possession of a handgun without a Weapons Carry License (“WCL”) may be a crime depending on where you possess that handgun.
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