If the General Assembly returns next year with a similar proposal to expand the so-called “castle doctrine,” the new governor will be faced with endorsing what Rendell calls a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality that fails to “protect the sanctity of human life.”
The misguided legislation that Rendell rightly vetoed over the weekend would expand a homeowner’s right from being able to blast away at an intruder to shooting someone if threatened outside a home or vehicle.
Self-defense is one topic where elite opinion is drastically different than what ordinary people think about the subject. That’s one reason this vote was so lopsided. The Inquirer is just going to further distance themselves from their dwindling reader base with positions like this.
Governor Rendell’s action can easily be explained as professional courtesy. One criminal is doing other criminals a favor.