Despite disavowals by police officials, the Canadian criminal code does include the right of citizens to
use deadly force to protect themselves (sections 34, 35, and 37). The key provision in the Canadian
criminal code (§34) is that, no one may use “more force than is necessary” and then only when “he
believes on reasonable grounds that he can not otherwise preserve himself from death or grievous
bodily harm.” In section 35, the code goes on to require that one must show that “he declined further
conflict and quitted or retreated from it (the assault) as far as it was feasible to do so before the
necessity of preserving himself ... arose.” Moreover, the right to use physical force to defend nonfamily
members is more limited than it is in many states, as are the Canadians’ rights to repulse
trespassers on their own property, or to use force to stop the commission of serious or violent crimes
(Viz. sections 24, 40, and 41).