The whole story (not much more than this) can be found at:
http://www.local10.com/news/10032499/detail.html
Welker, 26, heard a car pull into his driveway early Saturday, police said. When he went outside, two men threatened him with a gun and demanded keys to his truck.
The basic first move here by Welker (not that it was the smart move) was to go outside. Looks like his purpose was to deal with, or remove, trespassers, which he has a legal right to do. Their threatening with a gun immediately authorized him by law to use lethal force to defend himself, although this took place in a fairly twisted way.
But what it boils down to is that once again the homicide and self-defense laws in Florida have permitted construction of legal means to protect property with lethal force, even though Florida law does not explicitly state that you may do so in a single sentence.
I don't even see anywhere in the story that says he dialed 911 at all. But then you know how news stories are.
Now, perhaps Welker was unwise to step outside unarmed, and then to fight armed trespassers. But he's "unlikely" to be charged for two reasons. One, a case can be constructed from laws on the books (and the prosecutor knows it) to allow what he did. Two, not even a South Florida jury would convict him on what appears in the story.
My feeling is that what the legislature is trying to convey is that you can indeed defend property using deadly force, but circumstances need to lead up to it.
I suspect it goes like this.
You cannot ever shoot, from your window, someone stealing your kid's bike from your yard.
You cannot practically shoot the same guy even it you start by running outside and yelling because he'll just pick up the bike and flee, then you'll be guilty of shooting someone fleeing. No good.
You cannot shoot somebody trying to steal your jeep tires through the window.
You can, however, go outside with gun in pocket and demand he leave your property. If he leaves, you have defended property without using any force. If he disputes his right to be there, you can threaten or kick him, since you have the right to use force to remove a trespasser. If he stubbornly raises the tire iron to you, you can then shoot him.
But you have to be able to show that this is the sequence of events when the police arrive in order to qualify for the "cannot be arrested" part of the new laws. Otherwise, you'll have to pay your lawyer to assemble the necessary laws and argue the points for you. You have a chance at winning, but not financially, unless there's clear evidence it went the way you say, like maybe you have video surveillance or a neighbor saw it from across the street, in which case the DA will see a losing proposition in charging you.
It's this last paragraph that makes it worth considering dialing 911 and staying inside, or at least to carefully think through what you are about to do.
