By Tanya De Jesus
tdejesus@kcautv.com
You're home may be considered you're castle but legally in Nebraska you're not allowed to stand your ground if an intruder breaks in but lawmakers are trying to change that.
Imagine. You're lying in bed and you hear your door get broken into and then you hear the terrifying footsteps of someone walking down the hallway toward your room. You're first thought might be to protect yourself but legally in Nebraska that's not your first option.
"Right now the current law in the state of Nebraska requires that you retreat from the assailant or the source of danger," said Deputy Penny Kleinberg from the Dakota County Sheriff's Office.
In fact, as the law is written in Nebraska right now if you harm your attacker inside your home, that person could actually sue you if you didn't try to retreat before defending yourself. And for the people I spoke with that could be difficult.
"It would because I live in a duplex and it would be hard to try to even get out through the back way," said Marlene Awiszus.
And Chris Bengtson says, "If someone breaks in my house I'm going to want to defend myself and my family and my property."
That's why senators in Nebraska's Judiciary Committee will review a bill that would allow you to defend yourself and even use deadly force as long as there's a real threat to your life or others around you.
Kleinberg says, "You need to understand who the perpetrator is in this situation and what type of harm there is and that takes a lot of quick thinking."
The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to review the bill this Wednesday at the Nebraska capital.
