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New legislation is making its way through the Arizona legislature that would allow ranchers along the southern border to use lethal force to protect their property from trespassers.<\/p>\n
HB 2843 sponsored by\u00a0State Rep. Justin Heap attempts to curtail illegal immigrants\u2019 habits of cutting across private ranches after illegally entering the U.S. by expanding the state\u2019s Castle Doctrine \u2013 the use of lethal force when someone trespasses or breaks into your dwelling.<\/p>\n
According to Heap the bill is designed to close a loophole that he says had led to larger numbers of migrants and human traffickers moving across farm and ranch land.<\/p>\n
The legislation came about as 73-year-old George Alan Kelly, an Arizona rancher awaits trial after he fired on a group of illegal immigrants trespassing on his property and killed 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Butimea in the process. Under the new legislation, Kelly would have been justified in allegedly killing any of the immigrants. The bill expands the Castle Doctrine to allow the use of deadly force if an intruder invades a shooter\u2019s residence or their land and the shooter feels threatened.<\/p>\n
According to Heap, \u201cLanguage like \u2018and\u2019 \u2018or\u2019 \u2018either\u2019\u2026that one word can completely change the meaning of how this law is then applied.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIf a farmer owns 10,000 acres of farmland, his home may be a half a mile away from where he is, and if he sees someone on his land, can he approach them and (remove) them from his property? This is an amendment to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Arizona Mirror reported criminal defense attorney Jack Litwak believed the legislation would extend the self-defense laws to justify the use of deadly force in situations like Kelly shooting Cuen-Buitimea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea with the Castle Doctrine is that you are supposed to be able to defend house and home,\u201d he said. \u201cThis seems to broaden it to say you can shoot someone that\u2019s just on your actual property.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the legislation is passed, it\u2019s expected Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs will veto it.<\/p>\n
Arizona Cattle Grower\u2019s Association (ACGA) President Mike Gannuscio gave Christian New Journal (CNJ) insight into the rancher\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019s both a rancher & a farmer, who depends on legal migrants entering the U.S. to work but he told the CNJ, the cattle ranchers are bearing the brunt of the Biden administration\u2019s failure.<\/p>\n
Gannuscio said many of the immigrants were coming to the U.S. hoping for a better life, but the one\u2019s that comesdoes harm ruins it for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a $29,000 reward up for the illegal immigrant that killed one on my ARGA members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gannuscio told CNJ that in 2010 Robert Krentz Jr. a well known and loved rancher had reportedly seen an illegal immigrant in need of help on his ranch and called border patrol.<\/p>\n
Reportedly, when Krentz didn\u2019t show up to meet a family member, a search party was organized, and he was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Suspicions remain that the illegal immigrant he encountered ended Krentz\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Gannuscio went on to say that every time he left his wife and family, going to check water or other necessary tasks, he wondered who might possibly invade his home. Will it be a terrorist, a MS13 gang member?<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery rancher along the border has the same thoughts,\u201d he said. \u201cThey live in absolute fear for the safety of their family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gannuscio indicated that he was 100% for legal immigration, but the illegal influx had to stop. He indicated that the livelihood of Arizona ranchers was hanging in the balance.<\/p>\n
Wellheads (a necessity to water livestock or irrigate crops) were being broken, fences cut, livestock killed, breaking and entering into ranch houses, not to mention ranchers lives endangered. He questioned his cattle escaping because of cut fences and entering Mexico,<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do I get my cattle back?\u201d he lamented, noting it\u2019s illegal for him to cross into Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what we\u2019re dealing with. We\u2019re stuck,\u201d Gannuscio asserted. \u201cWe\u2019re tired of being the butt end of this administration\u2019s failure to enforce border law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gannuscio added that he was determined to be part of the solution, not the problem, telling CNJ, \u201cI love Arizona and that\u2019s why I\u2019m running for sheriff of Mojave County,\u201d Gannuscio said.<\/p>\n
Robyn Spradlin is a freelance journalist working as a contributor for Christian News Journal covering news and politics on the national and state levels. She has worked as a copywriter for Victory News on the Victory Channel since 2022. Robyn has a BA in Communication Studies and an MA in Journalism from Regent University and is a member of the Evangelical Press Association. She is an author, evangelistic minister and a musician. She lives in South Florida, where she enjoys the outdoors when she\u2019s not writing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n