Know your rights as California gun owner

UPDATE: 6:27 p.m.

For two years, Daphne Stevenson has called 20th Avenue near Desert Hot Springs home.

While ordinarily quiet, she said she and her son heard something out of the ordinary Wednesday night happening right down the street.

“He heard it, and then he asked me, ‘Mom did you hear the gunfire,” Stevenson said. “And I said, ‘I don’t know. But I don’t know if it was yesterday, or if I was sleeping, but I heard something.”

Stevenson and her son referred to a burglary, with witnesses saying someone even firing a gun inside.

Having worked with guns for most of his life, Kent Miller at Second Amendment Sports in Palm Desert said safety is key, knowing how to react in self-defense.

“The mere presence of someone in your home doesn’t constitute a threat of death,” Miller said. “I can understand the sense of eminent danger, but if somebody wants to flee and you’ve got a firearm, you must let them flee. Otherwise, it’s murder.”

Miller said if you’re a gun owner, the firearm should be a last resort when it comes to someone breaking into your home, and should only be used if you or anyone close to you is at risk of being seriously injured or killed.

Which is why he said it’s crucial to know your rights, while protecting yourself and others.

“Be rational,” Miller said. “Just because someone’s in your home, doesn’t mean they’re intent on killing you. The majority of people break into your home because they want your stuff. That doesn’t constitute them justifiably losing their lives.”

Miller said Second Amendment Sports offers classes for registered gun owners on how to safely use their firearms, and a guide to gun laws in California.

For a link to those resources, click here.

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ORIGINAL STORY: 3:43 p.m.

With recent burglaries and violent crimes taking place in the Coachella Valley, do you know your rights as a registered gun owner in California?

Multiple burglaries occurred in the 67800 block of 20th Avenue in an unincorporated part of Desert Hot Springs Wednesday night. Victims reportedly opened fire on would-be robbers who kicked in a door to a home.

KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2’s Zak Dahlheimer spoke to gun experts in Palm Desert to learn more about what you are permitted to do if you’re in a similar situation.

You can watch the report on CBS Local 2 at 5:30 p.m. & KESQ News Channel 3 6:00 p.m.

Learn more about how to protect yourself as a registered gun owner