Firearms and Ammunition

Plain English Breakdown

The effectiveness and potential misuse of these changes are uncertain.

Changes to Using Deadly Force for Property Protection

This bill allows people in Tennessee to use deadly force to protect their property under certain conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Allows a person to use deadly force if they would be allowed to use non-deadly force to protect property.
• Requires the person to reasonably believe that deadly force is necessary to prevent or stop trespassing, arson, damage to property, burglary, theft, robbery, or cruelty to animals.
• Requires the person to believe that other means of protection are not possible or would put them at risk of serious harm.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own property and want to protect it from threats.
• Private citizens making citizen's arrests.

Terms To Know

Deadly Force

Force that can cause death or serious injury, but does not include showing a weapon without causing harm.

Citizen's Arrest

When a private citizen arrests someone who is fleeing or resisting arrest.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill only applies to situations where deadly force is justified under specific conditions.
• It does not change the rules for using non-deadly force in property protection scenarios.

Official Summary Text

Under present law
, a person who is not engaged in conduct that
would constitute a felony or Class A misdemeanor and is in a place where the person has a right to be has no duty to retreat before threatening or using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury, if:

(
1
) The person has a reasonabl
e belief that there is an imminent danger of death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse;

(
2
) The danger creating the belief of imminent death, serious bodily injury, or grave sexual abuse is real, or honestly believed to be real at the time; and

(
3
) The belief of danger is founded upon reasonable grounds.

Under present law, a
person in lawful possession of property is justified in threatening or using force against another, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immedia
tely necessary to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the
personal
property.
Present law further provides that a
person who has been unlawfully dispossessed of real or personal property is justified in threa
tening or using force against the other, when and to the degree it is reasonably believed the force is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the property, if the person threatens or uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the d
i
spossession:

(1) The person reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when the other dispossessed the person; and

(2) The other accomplished the dispossession by threatening or using force against the person.

U
nless a person is justified i
n using deadly force as otherwise provided by law,
present law provides that
a person is not justified in using deadly force to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on real estate or unlawful interference with personal property
.

This bill changes pr
esent law to provide that a
person is justified in using deadly force against another
to protect property
:

(1) If the person would be justified in using
less than deadly
force against another
to protect property
under
present law
;

(2) When and to the
degree the person reasonably believes deadly force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's actual or attempted trespass; arson; damage to property; burglary; theft; robbery; or aggravated cruelty to animals, serious bodily injury, or

death to animals or livestock; and

(3) The person reasonably believes
t
he property cannot be protected or the other's actions terminated by any other means or
t
he use of force other than deadly force to protect or terminate the other's actions would expo
se the person or a third person to a risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Under present law, a
private citizen
making a "citizen's arrest, is authorized to u
se force reasonably necessary to accomplish the arrest of an individual who flees or resists the arrest; provided, that a private citizen cannot use or threaten to use deadly force except to the extent authorized under self-defense or defense of third per
s
on
laws
.
This bill adds that a private citizen making a citizen's arrest may also use
or threaten to use deadly force
to the extent authorized by this bill for the protection of property.

This bill revises the definition of "deadly force" to specify tha
t it does not include
the display of a weapon, the brandishing of a weapon, or the use of force in circumstances that do not result in death or serious bodily injury
.

In order for a person to justifiably use a device in the protection of property,
present law requires that the device meet certain criteria, including that the
device is not designed to cause or known to create a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm
. This bill changes such requirement so that the device must not be

designed to cause or known to create a
substantial probability of causing a substantial risk of death, protracted unconsciousness, or extreme physical pain
.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1407
By Hensley

HOUSE BILL 856
By Capley

HB0856
001706
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39,
relative to the use of force.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-11-614, is amended by deleting
subsection (c) and substituting instead the following:
(c) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) If the person would be justified in using force against another under
subsection (a) or (b);
(2) When and to the degree the person reasonably believes deadly force
is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's actual or attempted
trespass; arson; damage to property; burglary; theft; robbery; or aggravated
cruelty to animals, serious bodily injury, or death to animals or livestock; and
(3) The person reasonably believes:
(A) The property cannot be protected or the other's actions
terminated by any other means; or
(B) The use of force other than deadly force to protect or
terminate the other's actions would expose the person or a third person to
a risk of death or serious bodily injury.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-11-621, is amended by deleting
"self-defense or defense of third person statutes, §§ 39-11-611 and 39-11-612" and substituting
"self-defense, defense of third person, or protection of property statutes, §§ 39-11-611, 39-11-
612, and 39-11-614".

- 2 - 001706

SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-11-602, is amended by deleting
subdivision (2).
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-11-106(a), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
( ) "Deadly force" means force that is intended or known by the defendant to
cause or, in the manner of its use or intended use, is capable of causing death or a
substantial risk of death and does not include the display of a weapon, the brandishing
of a weapon, or the use of force in circumstances that do not result in death or serious
bodily injury;
SECTION 5 Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-11-616(a)(1), is amended by
deleting "substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm" and substituting "substantial
probability of causing a substantial risk of death, protracted unconsciousness, or extreme
physical pain".
SECTION 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance
is held invalid, then the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that
can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end, the provisions of
this act are severable.
SECTION 7. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.