Published: April 10, 2008 10:03 pm         

Manchin signs ‘Castle Doctrine’ bill

CHARLESTON — Lifetime National Rifle Association member Joe Manchin ceremoniously signed West Virginia’s version of the Castle Doctrine with a blunt warning Thursday to would-be home invaders.

“Don’t mess with us,” the governor cautioned while signing the bill backed strongly by the NRA in its national campaign to put such laws on the books in all 50 states.

For two years running, retiring Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, pushed the measure, varieties of which are law in 20 other states.

“This has been a long time in coming,” he said as Manchin summoned supporters to a table where he used ceremonial pens to sign the historic measure.

“It’s a bill that could affect all West Virginians. Hunting, the right to bear arms, the Second Amendment have been a heritage of West Virginia because our motto says, ‘Mountaineers are Always Free.’ And it shows the Mountaineer with his rifle.”

Not only does the law provide that residents may use deadly force to repel an intruder or avert a felony crime in the making on one’s property, it allows such actions to be used as a defense in potential litigation.

Love said many residents asked him to push for the legislation because they fear a home invasion.

“People want this protection,” he said.

Manchin said the bill is common sense and merely codifies what West Virginians have traditionally observed — one has to right to defend hearth and home.

Castle Doctrine legislation draws its name from a medieval English custom that held a man’s house was his castle, and the wind, but not the king, may enter.

“Every person’s home is a castle, and every person’s family member is a royal family member,” Manchin said.

“As long as the people know that we treat our family members like kings and queens, and we treat our homes like castles, don’t mess with us.”

Senate Majority Whip Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, said he considered the measure long overdue.

“It’s part of our culture,” he said. “We’re just codifying in law what is the culture of West Virginia, that a person has a right to defend family and property, even with deadly force. That’s part of culture, without being sued and dragged off to prison. We did quite well on this.”

Manchin agreed, saying, “I think we’ve always felt that. We just now made it legal.”

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