I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7716 
To establish defenses against crimes of violence, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 21, 2020 
Mr. SMITH of Missouri (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. LONG, and 
Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To establish defenses against crimes of violence, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Family and 
Private Property Defense Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFENSES AGAINST CRIMES OF VIOLENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘§ 28. Defense of self or others 
‘‘(a) DEFENSE.— 
‘‘(1) JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE.—It is an af-
firmative defense against any charge for a crime of 
violence that the defendant only used physical force 
upon another person to the extent that the defend-
ant reasonably believed such force to be necessary to 
defend the defendant or a third person from what 
the defendant reasonably believes to be the use or 
imminent use of unlawful force by such other per-
son. 
‘‘(2) JUSTIFIABLE USE OF DEADLY FORCE.—It 
is an affirmative defense against any charge for a 
crime of violence that the defendant only used dead-
ly force upon another person— 
‘‘(A) to the extent that the defendant rea-
sonably believed such force to be necessary to 
defend the defendant or a third person from 
what the defendant reasonably believes to be 
the use or imminent use of unlawful force by 
such other person; 
‘‘(B) if such person unlawfully enters, re-
mains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 
unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle 
lawfully occupied by such person; or 
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‘‘(C) if such person unlawfully enters, re-
mains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 
unlawfully enter private property that is owned 
or leased by an individual, or is occupied by an 
individual who has been given specific authority 
by the property owner to occupy the property, 
claiming a justification of using protective force 
under this section. 
‘‘(3) NO DUTY TO RETREAT.—The defendant 
has no duty to retreat— 
‘‘(A) from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle 
where the person is not unlawfully entering or 
unlawfully remaining; 
‘‘(B) from private property that is owned 
or leased by such individual; or 
‘‘(C) if the defendant is in any other loca-
tion such defendant has the right to be. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A defense under subsection 
(a) shall not apply if the defendant is the initial ag-
gressor, unless— 
‘‘(A) the defendant has withdrawn from 
the encounter and effectively communicated 
such withdrawal to such other person but the 
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