Key Takeaways
- The Castle Doctrine creates a legal presumption of reasonableness.
- It covers your home, occupied vehicle, and place of business.
- It is not a license to use force — it is a legal framework around justified force.
The statute
Arizona Revised Statute §13-411 establishes that a person is presumed to be acting reasonably when using physical or deadly force against another person who is unlawfully or forcefully entering a residence, occupied vehicle, or place of business.
What it does not do
The Castle Doctrine does not authorize preemptive violence, escalation, or the use of force after a threat has ended. Every defensive act still must meet the immediacy and proportionality tests.