By REBECCA COPLEY

MONTE VISTA – “Tonight we are going to be talking about personal defense laws and what happens. And this has come up on the request of multiple people. Part of what sparked this I think is a lot of uncertainty that’s going on in the country right now and what’s being shown on the media,” said Monte Vista police officer Joshua Hill when starting his presentation at the last neighborhood watch meeting. Hill adding, “We’ve seen all over the country different riots or some kind of civil unrest or some kind of political unrest or something to that effect. I’m very proud to say that Monte Vista has been a very peaceful community in that area.”

Hill went on to give an in-depth presentation covering self-defense laws, the “Make my Day,” law, weapon laws and more. Colorado’s “Make My Day” law gives gun owners the right to shoot and kill an intruder in self-defense if they believe the person intends to commit a crime and use physical force, “no matter how slight.” The state was one of the first to enact Make My Day legislation in 1985, giving homeowners immunity if they shoot and kill intruders. Under the law, fists can be deemed deadly weapons that justify shooting. In Colorado, to use a gun in self-defense, the shooter must have reason to believe that he or someone else would otherwise suffer serious bodily injury or death. The right to use a gun for self-defense, however, ends at the door. Front porches and backyards don’t count. The state’s law does not require a duty to retreat before using deadly force. Instead, the occupant of any dwelling may use deadly force against an intruder if the occupant thinks the intruder has committed or intends to commit a crime or might use physical force against the occupant.

“Legislatures go through and consider this almost every year. They’ll go through and say what level of force is being used? We’ll talk about what levels of force are. We’ll talk about everything from defending yourself, somebody else and your property. These are all things that are considered when it comes to the defense of yourself and the harm that you can inflict on another all the way up to and including taking somebody else’s life. This is actually very serious and probably the highest most principled set of laws that you are going to find in the State of Colorado,” said Officer Hill.

Hill went on to give examples of what imminent danger looks like. He also gave definitions of bodily injury and serious bodily injury. Hill went on to also give definitions for physical force and deadly physical force.

After giving examples of these terms Hill went on to explain reasonable belief and totality of circumstance. “Reasonable belief, is a belief that anyone, or almost anyone, would believe the same thing if they were placed in the same position. It is very important to understand you must be able to articulate why you believed that,” said Officer Hill later stating, “The totality of circumstance is when the entire picture is brought into play. The reasonable belief and the totality of circumstance are two very vague in definition statements that have very definitive answers.”

Hill also covered the Make my Day law, self-defense and defense of others, defense of premises and defense of property. While discussing defense of property Officer Hill made it clear you can’t use deadly force. “When it comes to property deadly force is off the table. Property is property. Life is more important than property. Even if it’s someone who is less savvy. A person is a person. That’s Colorado’s rule on that. The worst person on the planet is more valuable than property. You can buy new property.”

During the meeting Officer Hill also gave a presentation on weapons. Sharing a list of different weapons used for self-defense and the pros and cons of each. The list included firearms, tasers and stun guns, and Mace/OC. When discussing the pros and cons of firearms Hill stated, “The results of pulling the trigger are forever. That requires a lot of mental preparation. If you have a gun you have to know that you are prepared to pull the trigger. Because if you are not, you have paper weight that someone else can use as a weapon against you. It is something that takes a great deal of soul searching and consideration as to whether or not you are willing to do it. And if you are not willing to do it, I do not recommend using a firearm for self-defense at all.”

This was a very in-depth presentation and those who were present were able to ask many questions during the meeting. If you would like to view the meeting for yourself keep a look out for the video that will be posted of the meeting on MVPD-TV on YouTube. If you would like to join the next neighborhood watch meeting come the third Monday of every month at the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m.