

     § 507.  Use of force for the protection of property.
        (a)  Use of force justifiable for protection of property.--
     The use of force upon or toward the person of another is
     justifiable when the actor believes that such force is
     immediately necessary:
            (1)  to prevent or terminate an unlawful entry or other
        trespass upon land or a trespass against or the unlawful
        carrying away of tangible movable property, if such land or
        movable property is, or is believed by the actor to be, in
        his possession or in the possession of another person for
        whose protection he acts; or
            (2)  to effect an entry or reentry upon land or to retake
        tangible movable property, if:
                (i)  the actor believes that he or the person by
            whose authority he acts or a person from whom he or such
            other person derives title was unlawfully dispossessed of
            such land or movable property and is entitled to
            possession; and
                (ii)  (A)  the force is used immediately or on fresh
                pursuit after such dispossession; or
                    (B)  the actor believes that the person against
                whom he uses force has no claim of right to the
                possession of the property and, in the case of land,
                the circumstances, as the actor believes them to be,
                are of such urgency that it would be an exceptional
                hardship to postpone the entry or reentry until a
                court order is obtained.
        (b)  Meaning of possession.--For the purpose of subsection
     (a) of this section:
            (1)  A person who has parted with the custody of property
        to another who refuses to restore it to him is no longer in
        possession, unless the property is movable and was and still
        is located on land in his possession.
            (2)  A person who has been dispossessed of land does not
        regain possession thereof merely by setting foot thereon.
            (3)  A person who has a license to use or occupy real
        property is deemed to be in possession thereof except against
        the licensor acting under claim of right.
        (c)  Limitations on justifiable use of force.--
            (1)  The use of force is justifiable under this section
        only if the actor first requests the person against whom such
        force is used to desist from his interference with the
        property, unless the actor believes that:
                (i)  such request would be useless;
                (ii)  it would be dangerous to himself or another
            person to make the request; or
                (iii)  substantial harm will be done to the physical
            condition of the property which is sought to be protected
            before the request can effectively be made.
            (2)  The use of force to prevent or terminate a trespass
        is not justifiable under this section if the actor knows that
        the exclusion of the trespasser will expose him to
        substantial danger of serious bodily injury.
            (3)  The use of force to prevent an entry or reentry upon
        land or the recaption of movable property is not justifiable
        under this section, although the actor believes that such
        reentry or caption is unlawful, if:
                (i)  the reentry or recaption is made by or on behalf
            of a person who was actually dispossessed of the
            property; and
                (ii)  it is otherwise justifiable under subsection
            (a)(2).
            (4)  (i)  The use of deadly force is justifiable under
            this section if:
                    (A)  there has been an entry into the actor's
                dwelling;
                    (B)  the actor neither believes nor has reason to
                believe that the entry is lawful; and
                    (C)  the actor neither believes nor has reason to
                believe that force less than deadly force would be
                adequate to terminate the entry.
                (ii)  If the conditions of justification provided in
            subparagraph (i) have not been met, the use of deadly
            force is not justifiable under this section unless the
            actor believes that:
                    (A)  the person against whom the force is used is
                attempting to dispossess him of his dwelling
                otherwise than under a claim of right to its
                possession; or
                    (B)  such force is necessary to prevent the
                commission of a felony in the dwelling.
        (d)  Use of confinement as protective force.--The
     justification afforded by this section extends to the use of
     confinement as protective force only if the actor takes all
     reasonable measures to terminate the confinement as soon as he
     knows that he can do so with safety to the property, unless the
     person confined has been arrested on a charge of crime.
        (e)  Use of device to protect property.--The justification
     afforded by this section extends to the use of a device for the
     purpose of protecting property only if:
            (1)  the device is not designed to cause or known to
        create a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily
        injury;
            (2)  the use of the particular device to protect the
        property from entry or trespass is reasonable under the
        circumstances, as the actor believes them to be; and
            (3)  the device is one customarily used for such a
        purpose or reasonable care is taken to make known to probable
        intruders the fact that it is used.
        (f)  Use of force to pass wrongful obstructor.--The use of
     force to pass a person whom the actor believes to be
     intentionally or knowingly and unjustifiably obstructing the
     actor from going to a place to which he may lawfully go is
     justifiable, if:
            (1)  the actor believes that the person against whom he
        uses force has no claim of right to obstruct the actor;
            (2)  the actor is not being obstructed from entry or
        movement on land which he knows to be in the possession or
        custody of the person obstructing him, or in the possession
        or custody of another person by whose authority the
        obstructor acts, unless the circumstances, as the actor
        believes them to be, are of such urgency that it would not be
        reasonable to postpone the entry or movement on such land
        until a court order is obtained; and
            (3)  the force used is not greater than it would be
        justifiable if the person obstructing the actor were using
        force against him to prevent his passage.
     (Dec. 19, 1980, P.L.1310, No.235, eff. imd.)

        1980 Amendment.  Act 235 amended subsec. (c).
        Cross References.  Section 507 is referred to in section 505
     of this title.
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Last modified: November 27, 2007