On Using Deadly Force

Conflict Research Group International (CRGI) represents a coalition of professionals pertaining to self-defense for citizens and their legal ramifications. On this panel are experts in fields ranging from firearms, security, law enforcement, and martial arts, including the renown authors on violence and self-defense, Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller.

According to CRGI the 'Basic Standard' relating to a life-and-death altercation reads thusly:

You may legally use deadly force only when there is an immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to the innocent.

In order to meet this basic standard, you must be able to convince a jury that you (or the person you defended) were an innocent party, and that you were in immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm. This is contingent on a few things.


Three basic elements must be present before lethal force is used. These elements are called Ability, Opportunity, and Jeopardy. When these three things are present, any reasonable person would believe that a life was in danger, so the defendant’s legal position is very strong. But if one of the elements is missing, the defendant may have a hard time convincing a jury that shooting the attacker was really necessary.

• Ability means that the other person has the power to kill or to cripple you.
• Opportunity means that the circumstances are such that the other person would be able to use his ability against you.
• Jeopardy means that the other person’s actions or words provide you with a reasonably-perceived belief that he intends to kill you or cripple you.

To reiterate, the caveat here is that the presence of only two elements does not justify using deadly force.


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(h/t: reddit/martialarts)