As a once-kid who used to take shortcuts across open ranch land, this bill would give land owners a license to kill:
The bill comes as an Arizona rancher awaits trial after he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault for killing 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea after he shot at a group of unarmed migrants walking through his 170-acre ranch outside of Nogales. Under its provisions, 73-year-old George Alan Kelly would have been justified for allegedly killing any of the migrants.
“any real property OR any structure” is a HUGE change to this law. Before a justified shooting had to be within a building. That’s why it’s called castle doctrine after all. You can’t necessarily retreat if you are in your home and the proof is somewhat self-evident the intruder shouldn’t have been there, etc., etc. This change means a shooting can be anywhere on land a house is situated on. Land is defined as real property in Arizona, so… anywhere. AND, Arizona is an open-range state. I.e., no fences required for those cattle.
The self defense language is useless. George Zimmerman acted in self defense too, right?