The Guam Attorney General’s Office held a community outreach in Yigo over the weekend to talk about the Castle Doctrine and steps homeowners and business owners can take to keep themselves safe.
Attorney General Douglas Moylan said the biggest factors fueling Guam’s crime problem are methamphetamine addicts and repeat offenders. Often, the two categories overlap, he said.
Moylan said his office is seeing the drug problem “turn meth addicts into murderers.”
The attorney general explained the Castle Doctrine gives people the right to use deadly force to protect themselves if they are in fear for their safety in and around their homes and businesses.
But it doesn’t give them the right to shoot people who are walking away after stealing property.
“There has to be a threat that exists,” he said.
Moylan and his team also demonstrated firearms safety, discussed what to do if police are present and talked about the importance of posting no trespassing signs.
Following the session, Moylan distributed lanyards with pepper spray, noisemakers and cat-ear self-defense tools.
