Hero in June. Declared “unfit” in September.
Keith Blessing, 75, and his wife Di, 72, were asleep in their Torrington home when a man, now charged with wounding with intent to murder, allegedly attacked. Di was stabbed in the chest and Keith was stabbed/slashed in the abdomen reaching internal organs, a class of wound that puts people in the ICU.
The fact that he still forced the attacker out with a kitchen knife, called Triple Zero, loaded a rifle, and fired when the man tried to come back in, is a heroic act deserving the highest praise. Di later said that without him she would not be alive.
Police called his actions “quite impressive.” Premier Chris Minns called him a hero who saved his family. Then the Firearms Registry revoked his licence and the Commissioner of Police has declared him not a fit and proper person to own firearms. He now faces an internal review that most people lose.
That is Australia’s self-defence system in one case.
Australian homeowners don’t have a clear right to safely defend themselves against an attack that has already started inside their house. You must believe the force was necessary, and it must later be judged a “reasonable response” in the circumstances as you perceived them.
There is no castle protection.
There is no immunity.
There is no rule that says the victim is finished with the State once the attacker is down.
In 2001 NSW repealed the Home Invasion (Occupants Protection) Act and replaced it with an after-the-fact test.
A 75-year-old with stab wounds to the abdomen is expected to get the legal use of force exactly right while his wife is being stabbed.
Get that judgement wrong in a lawyer’s office months later and you are likely to be in the shit.
The Firearms Registry can take your licence, and declare you not to be “Fit and proper” as if surviving an attack using lawful self-defence is proof you are unsafe.
The victim pays lawyers.
The victim waits on reviews.
The victim is disarmed in the same isolated house police had not yet reached.
The alleged attacker, charged with wounding with intent to murder, is eligible for a state-funded Legal Aid defence in the District Court.
Defend yourself and you become a problem.
Australian homeowners who stop armed intruders may get investigated, charged, held for months praying the charge is dropped, and often lose firearms even when a court never convicts them.
Keith Blessing did what any self respecting man would do to protect his family, property, and himself.
The State called him a hero, then stripped him of the tool that kept Di alive. This is contrary to public safety. It’s a government that talks about victims and then treats the victim as the problem.
Australians need a 2nd Amendment like right to own a firearm for the sole purpose of protecting themselves, their family and property.
#CastleLaw #SelfDefence #SaveAustralia