Caribou Gear Tarp

Physical force to terminate suspected trespass

It’s just really never a good idea to get in a gun fight.
If someone pulls a gun you just gotta get out of there.
 
^^^ Thats a totally different scenario than a guy who shows up to go hunting and has some redneck wannabe cowboy ranch hand ride up to him randomly on an ATV and pull a gun on him. The entire proposed bill is ripe with potential problems. And thanks to whoever is fighting the fight to get this bill dismissed. Several lessons to learned from the story above if you read between the lines. Nobody should be getting in a gunfight over trespassing or potential trespassing while hunting. It just isn't worth it. Lifes too short to die over something that stupid. Bottom line is that the LAW should be the ones that deal with trespassers. It IS THEIR JOB and that's what they are PAID TO DO.
 
I thought I already had the right to physically remove or subdue a person that was trespassing?
 
It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Some guy went road rage on me two weeks ago for trying to move over for an ambulance and then telling his wife at the red light as she was hanging out the window yelling at me that it’s the law to move over and slow down for emergency vehicles. He followed me and went totally insane, trying to pull my door open. and open it did 😊
He was just an unarmed asshole that couldn’t fight that got the shit kicked out of him in front of his hysterical wife. Give that mentality a gun and tell him that it’s okay to confront “trespassers” on the “ranch” and there will be problems. You think this guy knows where the lines are on the “ranch” between the deeded ground and the lease ground? Does he care, or is he going to just go into a blind rage?
 
Give that mentality a gun and tell him that it’s okay to confront “trespassers” on the “ranch” and there will be problems. You think this guy knows where the lines are on the “ranch” between the deeded ground and the lease ground? Does he care, or is he going to just go into a blind rage?
Its already ok to confront a trespasser. Its currently lawful to confront trespassers with a gun, if that action is determined to be reasonable. Its currently lawful to shoot a trespasser, if that action is determined to be reasonable.

This law appears to be foolish because it is unnecessary. Not convinced it would lead to an increase in unwarranted violence in regards to trespassing.
 
I think there’s data that could provide a powerful counter to this proposal.

Talk to your LEO‘s,wardens, etc about times that people have been told they were trespassing by someone when they were actually not. In every one of those situations, this law would be needlessly providing a venue for escalation in which nobody wins. Even if the trespassing was actually occurring, this law encourages escalation.

Imagine you’re not trespassing but someone accuses you of it - a situation I have personally been in that ended with me calling their bluff, “go ahead and call the authorities and we will see how it pans out”. They did not call the authorities. But I imagine what that would have been like, if that individual thought they had a free pass to get physical with me.

Deep in our in animal brains we know, people don’t get to put hands on you with impunity. We often begrudgingly accept this with LEOs, but if John Q Landowner comes at citizens with physical force regardless of the situation, folks with weapons would be reacting accordingly.
 
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I think there’s data that could provide a powerful counter to this proposal.

Talk to your LEO‘s,wardens, etc about times that people have been told they were trespassing by someone when they were actually not. In every one of those situations, this law would be needlessly providing a venue for escalation in which nobody wins. Even if the trespassing was actually occurring, this law encourages escalation.

Imagine you’re not trespassing but someone accuses you of it - a situation I have personally been in that ended with me calling their bluff, “go ahead and call the authorities and we will see how it pans out”. They did not call the authorities. But I imagine what that would have been like, if that individual thought they had a free pass to get physical with me.

Deep in our in animal brains we know, people don’t get to put hands on you with impunity. We often begrudgingly accept this with LEOs, but if John Q Landowner comes at citizens with physical force regardless of the situation, folks with weapons would be reacting accordingly.
This law would not give them the right to put their hands on you with impunity. It still has to be reasonable. This law specifically states;

(d) A person who is the owner or legal occupant of land or a premises upon which a criminal trespass is occurring, or their agent, is justified in using reasonable and appropriate physical force upon another person when and to the extent that it is reasonably necessary to terminate what the owner, occupant or agent reasonably believes to be the commission of a criminal trespass by the other person in or upon the land or premises.

(e) Section (d) of this section does not supersede or add to the responsibilities applicable to the defense of self or another as provided by law.

The right to do this already exists in common law. Currently in Wyo, if a guy wanders onto my land, I can confront him and ask him to leave. I can use physical force if I believe it to be reasonable and justified. If I F this dude up while doing so it will be up to a court of law to determine if I was reasonable and justified in doing so. If this legislation holds, it will go down the same path.

The legislation is not needed. It is not a free pass to shooting suspected trespassers. IMO.
 
Hard to believe deadly force is authorized for a civilian in a misdemeanor or civil situation when it is not authorized for sworn peace officers unless a felony and they are in fear of great bodily harm for themselves or others
 
This law would not give them the right to put their hands on you with impunity. It still has to be reasonable. This law specifically states;

(d) A person who is the owner or legal occupant of land or a premises upon which a criminal trespass is occurring, or their agent, is justified in using reasonable and appropriate physical force upon another person when and to the extent that it is reasonably necessary to terminate what the owner, occupant or agent reasonably believes to be the commission of a criminal trespass by the other person in or upon the land or premises.

(e) Section (d) of this section does not supersede or add to the responsibilities applicable to the defense of self or another as provided by law.

The right to do this already exists in common law. Currently in Wyo, if a guy wanders onto my land, I can confront him and ask him to leave. I can use physical force if I believe it to be reasonable and justified. If I F this dude up while doing so it will be up to a court of law to determine if I was reasonable and justified in doing so. If this legislation holds, it will go down the same path.

The legislation is not needed. It is not a free pass to shooting suspected trespassers. IMO.
Who gets to determine reasonable? An unreasonable rancher? I've had more than one that has confronted me that are not reasonable, gating public roads, etc. We aren't dealing with reasonable people from the start.

We have law enforcement for a reason.
 
We have law enforcement for a reason.
I agree. And I am firmly in the camp that if your first response is not to call law enforcement but rather open fire then you are going to found to have acted unreasonably. I would assume other landowners are also in that camp.

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I'm not as convinced as you are...people are not reasonable.
I find it almost impossible to believe that that only thing holding people back from beating the shit out of trespassers on sight was the existence of this law. Good chance we will have the opportunity to see if my faith in people is misplaced.
 
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This type of thing scares me. I have a friend who, let's just say, his first reaction to confrontation is to attack, not de-escalate. I can just see a loud mouth owner confro ting him on a mistaken trespass and all he'll breaking loose

Cooler heads need to prevail
 
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