Minnesota has gone nuts.

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-supreme-court-self-defense-duty-to-retreat/

Most states in these United States have come to there approximate senses and become Stand Your Ground states.

Minnesota has gone full idiot in the other direction in this regard.

I've been openly critical of the projected numbers that Americans use guns in self-defense in the millions every year. Though, I'll say that the numbers are becoming increasingly plausible.

Even though this case doesn't involve a gun, it's deeply consequential.

Mr. Blevins was acting in self-defense. He was absolutely, unambiguously, facing a deadly force threat.

The court said that. The court agreed that he was facing a deadly force threat. The court agreed that Mr. Blevins responded reasonably to the deadly force threat.

He's still in prison.

He's not in prison because he actually harmed anyone.

This isn't a case of disproportionat force. It's not that his attacker threatened Mr. Blevins with his fists, and Mr. Blevins shot him.

What this decision effectively does is tell victims of deadly force threats that you need to exhaust all retreat options before showing your own weapon, lest you end up in prison. It's saying that you can be innocent and reasonable while facing an imminent deadly threat, and the government will still throw you in a cage, not for killing a person -- not for even injuring your attacker -- if you didn't adequately "run away" before "brandishing" your own weapon.

Do you know why the projected numbers of defensive use of guns is often in the millions in these United States? It's because criminals don't want a fight. It's common that simply showing a gun will get the bad guy to back off.

Bad guy shows a knife. I show him my gun, therefore showing the bad guy that he doesn't have the power in the situation. The bad guy backs off.

That probably happens about half a million times a year in this country.

What Minnesota has done is create the most hostile environment for self-defense in this country. One of the most common scenarios of self-defense will now land people in prison.

This is an absurd decision.