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MN HF131
Bill
Status
1/14/2021
Primary Sponsor
Lisa Demuth
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AI Summary
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Eliminates the common law duty to retreat for individuals using defensive force outside the home and allows meeting force with superior force when acting defensively.
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Expands the definition of "dwelling" to include buildings, overnight accommodations, vehicles, tents, and attached structures like decks and porches, along with their curtilage.
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Creates a presumption that an individual using deadly force has a reasonable belief of imminent threat if someone unlawfully enters or attempts to enter by force or stealth, or attempts to remove a person from the dwelling or occupied vehicle.
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Grants immunity from criminal prosecution to individuals who use justifiable force in self-defense or defense of another, and places burden of proof on the state to prove actions were not justifiable in criminal trials.
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Extends all self-defense rights available for dwellings to occupied vehicles, including the presumption of reasonable belief in imminent threat.
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Effective August 1, 2021, and applies to uses of deadly force occurring on or after that date.
Legislative Description
Firearms; law on use of force in defense of home and person clarified, Minnesota's self-defense and defense of home laws codified and extended, common law duty to retreat in cases of self-defense outside the home eliminated, boundaries of dwelling expanded for purposes of self-defense, presumption created in the case of a person entering a dwelling or occupied vehicle by stealth or force, and rights available to a person in that person's dwelling extended to a person defending against entry of that person's occupied vehicle.
Last Action
Author added Torkelson
4/8/2022