Russian Castle Doctrine

What has the world come to? England, Canada, Australia and others have stripped their citizens of the Right to bear arms. Interesting the Internet has been scrubbed of the stories concerning the disarmament and the rapid increase in crime in each of these countries. I mention this because it is odd that Russia which didn’t allow gun ownership is slowly reversing their laws to allow its citizens access for sport and self-defense.

Russia wants to give the Russians the right to exceed the protection of permissible self-defense in case of a threat to life, as well as in order to protect relatives and friends from attacks by persons illegally entering a house or apartment. Something the West refers to as the Castle Doctrine. Amendments to Article 37 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation being reviewed by the government and the Supreme Court, proposes to give citizens the right to protect their lives by all means, as well as the lives of relatives in the event of an attack. Supporters state “We believe that the formula ‘my home is my fortress’ should be enshrined in criminal law.” Interestingly they seem to take the rather American view that “the right to the inviolability of the home is the most important constitutional human right.“

Currently Russians are only allowed permissible self-defense in case of a threat to life, which means they would have to prove they had no way to escape AND there was a threat to their life. While the links article doesn’t mention guns or gun laws, other articles do point out the relaxing of gun control in Russia.

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