Republican lawmakers of Arizona state House of Representatives advanced a bill allowing ranchers in southern Arizona to legally shoot and kill migrants entering the border without proper documentation.
The proposed legislation would revise the “Castle Doctrine” law, which permits Arizonans to utilize lethal force on border violators who are breaking into their homes.
Rep. Justin Heap (R-Mesa), who authored the bill, said that HB 2843 intends to close a loophole being exploited by an increasing “larger number of migrants or human traffickers traveling through farm and ranch land.”
The bill comes after an Arizona rancher awaits trial as he shot and later killed Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who was among the group of illegal migrants who trespassed his 170-acre ranch outside of Nogales.
HB 2843 proposes to expand the Castle Doctrine law, which allows the use of deadly force if the intruder is either in the shooter’s residence or on his land and if the shooter feels threatened.
Heap explained: “The idea with the Castle Doctrine is that you are supposed to be able to defend house and home.”
“This seems to broaden it to say you can shoot someone that’s just on your actual property.”
According to a report by AZ Mirror, the bill reforms the Castle Doctrine so that the use of violent force will not only be limited to events where an intruder unlawfully enters one’s home or habitat. With the amendments, ranchers, and landowners would be protected by law if they used lethal force against someone who was illegally on their land.
“Language like ‘and’ ‘or’ ‘either’ … that one word can completely change the meaning of how this law is then applied,” Heap added.
“If a farmer owns 10,000 acres of farmland, his home may be a half a mile away from where he is, and if he sees someone on his land, can he approach them and [remove] them from his property? This is an amendment to fix that.”
If the bill passes, it will join the rest of the ten states that have explicit “Stand Your Ground” laws that permit violent force if the owner feels threatened.
In committee, Rep. Alex Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, praised the bill for protecting people who could be accused of using excessive force in these situations.
“This is a great Second Amendment bill, that is also protecting the rights of the accused to make sure we are taking ambiguity out of our law,” Kolodin said.
