Colorado’s “Make My Day“ law allows you to use force and even deadly force against an intruder in your home (including when you are a guest in a hotel room) whom you reasonably believe is committing a crime and posing a physical danger.

Make My Day law is alternatively referred to as

• the Castle Doctrine or
• the “force-against-intruders” statute.

How does the Make My Day law work?

Colorado’s Make My Day law has three elements that must be met for you to lawfully hurt or kill an intruder.

1. The intruder illegally enters a home (“dwelling”);
2. You have reasonable grounds to believe that the intruder committed or intends to commit a crime in the home (other than the intrusion); and
3. You have reasonable grounds to believe the intruder may use any degree of physical force against you or another occupant in the home.

Note that the Make My Day law applies to any home, including RV trailers and hotel rooms. Though it does not include the common area of an apartment building; the intruder would have to unlawfully enter an actual apartment for you as an occupant to be protected under the Make My Day law.

Also note that there is no requirement that the intruder break in. As an occupant, you can still kill intruders who enter through an unlocked door or open window.¹

Does Colorado have a duty to retreat?

No. Colorado law does not impose a duty to retreat when you are in a home and a seemingly dangerous intruder enters. This is true even when you can easily escape through a door or window. Instead, you may “stand your ground” to fight and even kill the intruder.²

Learn more in our articles Is Colorado a “stand your ground” state?” and Colorado self-defense laws.

Can I kill in self-defense outside of a home?

Colorado law permits you to kill an aggressor in self-defense – or in defense of others – outside of a home when you genuinely believe non-deadly force is insufficient to stop the threat and one of the following three conditions is true:

1. You reasonably believe that you or someone else faces an imminent danger of dying or being seriously injured; or
2. The aggressor appears to be using physical force against an occupant while committing – or attempting to commit – a burglary; or
3. The aggressor appears to be committing a kidnapping, robbery, or sexual assault.

Otherwise, you may only use as much force as is reasonably necessary to fight off an aggressor.³

If you are in a Colorado dwelling, you have no duty to retreat when an intruder enters.

What is the Make My Day statute in Colorado?

Colorado’s Make My Day Law is codified in CRS 18-1-704.5, which states that:

(1) The general assembly hereby recognizes that the citizens of Colorado have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1-704, any occupant of a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when that other person has made an unlawful entry into the dwelling, and when the occupant has a reasonable belief that such other person has committed a crime in the dwelling in addition to the uninvited entry, or is committing or intends to commit a crime against a person or property in addition to the uninvited entry, and when the occupant reasonably believes that such other person might use any physical force, no matter how slight, against any occupant.

(3) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from criminal prosecution for the use of such force.

(4) Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall be immune from any civil liability for injuries or death resulting from the use of such force.

(5) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “dwelling” does not include any place of habitation in a detention facility, as defined in section 18-8-211 (4).

Legal References