For instance, imagine that someone breaks into your house at night. You hear the noise, get a handgun out of your bedside table — you bought that gun legally years ago — and you go downstairs. There are two men in your living room. They’re both armed, clearly holding guns themselves. They’ve kicked the door open. One turns toward you as you come down the stairs.

You fire at both men. They run out of the house, but they’re quickly found by police because you wounded both of them. One passes away from his injuries.

Due to some miscommunication about what happened, you get arrested. While shooting someone is clearly illegal in most situations, you can argue that you feared for your life and you simply acted to protect yourself and your family. Self-defense means you’re not guilty of a crime, even though you did fire the shots just like the police claim.