IJM
Ultimate Member
Surprisingly, DC has halfway decent self-defense laws.DC's self-defense law falls into a middle ground between "Duty to Retreat" and "Stand Your Ground".
Under the case law of the District of Columbia, the District is neither a “right to stand and kill” nor a “duty to retreat to the wall before killing” jurisdiction. The District case law has established a “middle ground.”
You should take reasonable steps, such as stepping back or walking away, to avoid the necessity of taking a human life, so long as those steps are consistent with your own safety. However, you do not have to retreat or consider retreating when you actually and reasonably believe that you are in danger of death or serious bodily harm and that deadly force is necessary to repel that danger.
Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.