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.
Murder loophole would be to bring people to your ranch, kill them, and say they were on your property. Just say they “looked” like border crossers. Easy peasy murder squeezy.
Ugh. I’m both disgusted at how simple it would be, and horrified that it may not be an unexpected outcome for the lawmakers.
The actual bill doesn’t say anything about border crossers, it basically extends the Castle Doctrine (the notion that you do not have a duty to retreat and it is justifiable to use deadly force against trespassers in your home) to cover your land as well as the actual interior of the residence.
So you don’t have to say they looked like border crossers because that wouldn’t matter - that they were trespassing on your land is itself sufficient.