Prosecutors say a bill that offers strong liability protection for homeowners who shoot intruders is unnecessary, and may block criminal charges in situations where they may be warranted.

"We have a current policy in North Dakota that the use of deadly force is not justified if it can be avoided," said Ladd Erickson, the McLean County state's attorney. "We shouldn't shoot people if we can avoid shooting people."

The legislation, which the North Dakota House's Judiciary Committee began reviewing Monday, says a person is presumed to be acting in self-defense if he shoots a burglar in his home, or a carjacker trying to get into a vehicle. It does not bar prosecutors from attempting to prove otherwise.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan, also gives the shooter immunity from a civil lawsuit filed in connection with a justified shooting. The carjacker or burglar, or his family, cannot collect damages from the shooter.

At present, North Dakota law says deadly force "is not justified if it can be avoided, with safety to the actor or others, by retreat or other conduct involving minimal interference with the freedom of the person menaced." The proposed legislation would delete that language.

Darin Goens, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, said the law should not require someone to give ground to an intruder in his or her own home. Nor should someone who is the victim of an illegal break-in or an attempted carjacking be worried about a lawsuit if he or she shoots the perpetrator, Goens said.

"Under the current statute in this state, (prosecutors) can charge you for defending yourself, and we feel that simply is wrong," Goens said. "When a criminal undertakes bad intentions, you shouldn't have to wonder why they're in your business, why they're in your home."

Lawmakers quizzed Goens about a sentence in the proposed law, included in a section that outlines the justification for use of deadly force, that says: "An individual does not have the duty to retreat if the individual is in a place where that individual has a right to be."

Rep. Lois Delmore, D-Grand Forks, said the language would apply to almost any location.

"It could be a park. It could be a street, as long as I have a right to be there," Delmore told Goens. "If I feel scared, I have a weapon, and I think somebody's after me, I can turn around and take care of the situation?"

The Judiciary Committee's chairman, Rep. Duane DeKrey, R-Pettibone, appointed a subcommittee to probe the legislation further. Its members are Reps. Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck; Kim Koppelman, R-West Fargo; and Lisa Wolf, D-Minot.