Looking for some help and advice. 1) Confused with CA law in self defense in the home. 2) Is a bow as good as an option as a gun for self defense in the home?

I’m maybe a little more skittish than the average person when it comes to home invasion, because it’s happened to me on three occasions [edit: four occasions, now that I think of it] at different homes, sometimes ending up violent and with thousands of dollars worth of valuables stolen. I live in CA (in a new apartment, not the other locations). A couple weekends ago I was home alone around 9pm and someone tried to enter. I thought it was my boyfriend coming home, as the dogs were alerted and ran to the door, but no one came in despite aggressively trying to open the handle. I was confused and checked outside expecting to see my boyfriend fumbling with keys or something but no one was there. We’re on the second floor of the apartment, so they must have ran down the stairs somewhat quickly and out of sight (or hid below the stair well). I called my boyfriend and he was far away from home and even sent me his location. I’ve been VERY on edge ever since and it’s been affecting my sleep, I am very anxious home alone like I am today. Something about it just seemed very wrong and my dogs acted strangely after that.

I want a weapon but I don’t know how much I can do to an intruder without getting in trouble myself.

I found that in CA one can use deadly force in the home when: “-You knew or had reason to believe the person entered your home unlawfully; [easy to prove if the door was locked]

-The intruder was acting unlawfully (not a police officer who was doing their job); [easy to prove because of point #1 right?]

-There was a reasonable fear of death or injury to you, a family member or another member of the household; [how am I supposed to verify that if I shoot them before they see me or get to me? Can I just ASSUME they’re going to? Will I really get in trouble if I shoot them before they approach me to harm me?]

-You or the occupants of your home did not provoke the intruder in any way” [am I not allowed to be the provoker/aggressor if someone enters my own home? Is saying “Get out of my house or I’ll shoot you” considered “provoking”?]

New to all of this weapon stuff but to my understanding a bow is lethal but a person is more likely to bleed out longer and die slower than being shot by a gun (true/false?). I’m a lot more comfortable with a bow and feel like I’m more accurate. But maybe I should just invest time into practicing with a gun? Should I shoot (with bow/gun) to injure or kill? Thoughts?

Submitted August 28, 2018 at 04:56PM by cheapasianproducts https://ift.tt/2wk4ZTa