when is it "ok"?

[fabsroman]

Yep, laws vary from state to state, and if you carry in your state you had better make sure you know exactly what the self defense laws are.

Maryland observes the duty to retreat doctrine along with the castle doctine. A person has a duty to retreat from any situation before he uses deadly force, except in his home (i.e, his castle) wherein he is allowed to use deadly force.

Also, deadly force can be used to defend others, but you had better be really sure about who you are shooting and that they aren't the ones being accosted. For the most part, unless you know the person who is about to lose his/her life, do not shoot the other guy.

If the threat is neutralized, you cannot kill the person. If the person starts retreating when you pull the gun, you cannot kill them unless it is in your house. Quite honestly, I believe that the law should be that no questions are asked for killing a burglar in your home. The reason we have as much crime as we do is because the poor sheep cannot defend themselves.

I have run a bunch of scenarios through my head. If somebody comes into my house at night, you can bet that I will be pulling the trigger as soon as I identify that they aren't somebody I know. I will not be waiting to see if they have a gun or allowing them to retreat and regroup with a possible buddy just to come back and ambush me.

If it is during daylight hours and I have the drop on them, I will check to see if they have a gun.

Essentially, I plan on calling the police department should anybody break in and then staying on the 4th floor of my place with the handgun in hand. There is only one door up to that level, so that is the only spot I need to worry about and there are plenty of places for me to coverup behind. I definitely will not be the one getting surprised.