Shooting thieves

There's this question someone asked in another forum I'm on. The person who posted it thinks they should be allowed to shoot anyone who is trying to steal their personal property. The thing that disgusts me is that the vast majority of those who responded to the thread agreed they should be allowed to blow the person away. So if their brother stole something from someones house to fuel a drug addiction they couldn't kick then I guess these people fell that it's OK if someone flew his head off? I posted this question but haven't gotten a response. "He was asking for it"? Someone else asked if these people valued human life more than property. A couple of people responded back "Yes value my property more than the life of someone who tries to steal it". I know, I know this isn't exactly new ground here, probably most right wing gun nuts feel this way but it's still infuriating to read. I suspect I'll be called a liberal pussy or something else original. I really should stop talking on these boards full of right wingers, but the other discussions there keep me from leaving.

unless the person in quesiton who does the shooting can demonstrate they feared for their lives or the lives of their loved ones during the theft in progress.

i believe louisiana lets you shoot trespassers wearing costumes on halloween, there was a case several years back about this.

generally, i think most states let you use the minimum force necessary to prevent any crime from happening to you. if you can stop the theft by simply brandishing the gun, then you are not entitled to shoot. however, if pointing the gun and saying "stop or i'll shoot" doesn't work, and you have no reasonable alternative means of stopping the theft, then i believe you can shoot.

again, this varies from state to state, and in some cases, from jury to jury.

Yep
You can shoot vandals after dark in TX.
I could never do that, i wouldn't even shoot someone for stealing my truck.
Just stay out of my house.

:evilgrin:

I may like a trade

I thought every state prohibited lethal action except in cases of self-defense.

:shrug:

I certainly hope the case you're talking about involved visibly posted "NO TRESPASSING" signs and other extenuating circumstances.

though a criminal jury acquitted him of manslaughter.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=369397

The dude who shot the Japanese exchange student who went to the wrong door was just being a jerk. In any case, posting a "No Trespass" sign doesn't give you the right to shoot anyway. The reason the dude got off was he was able to convince a jury that he was a hysteric and honestly believed he was in danger from the Japanese menace of a student who was, er, KNOCKING on his door, not exactly breaking in or anything. It was sad, the kid just went to the wrong door by accident.

A true miscarriage of justice, sigh.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

If someone breaks in your house you should leave and call the police and let them handle it.

Let's say I'm a little old lady but somehow I'm going to be able to jump out the window and flee my home and hope the police get here in time to save my life when it has just been invaded by some a gang of drug addicts? Sorry, I had a relative severely raped and injured in a home invasion. People don't invade your house with you in it because all they want is some quick cash, most houses don't have any and pawn shops no longer accept TVs you know. If a bad guy or three is in my house, I have to assume that he intends me grevious bodily harm.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

i think the original poster was trying to describe a clean, non-violent theft, where there is (somehow) no threat of rape or violence, just theft of property.

if there's a clear threat of violence, then the theft part becomes a footnote and physical self-defense would become the issue, and shooting in such situations is much more clearly acceptable.

Somehow I doubt it. I think the gun would actually end up getting the little old lady killed.

Now don't get me wrong if you want to have a gun then you should be able to. If you register it and, get a license for it.

Personally I would rather just leave the house and call the police.

killing some fool over, but it's breaking down now...society about to cut loose! Think they've had it up to here and back.

Read my other post. Anyone who assumes that home invaders are just about taking property are naive. There are lots of empty homes they could break into during the daytime if property is what they are seeking.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

With that being said, i would shoot someone for breaking into my house.
In TX if you find someone in your house, you are authorized to use deadly force.
This ones scary.
In TX you are authorized to use deadly force if someone is vandalizing your property after dark.

thought of someone in my house w/o permission puts me in fear of my life! and he/she full of big holes!

...If I am home and someone breaks in, I will shoot first and ask questions later...I mean, what are you going to do?

Stealing shit out of my garage, or off my property...I call the cops, and/or grab the Louisville Slugger.

... if you used deadly force during a robbery in your own home.


The original post didn't say whose home, just "someone's home".

I would probably clock a burglar with my baseball bat (and then only if I had an easy shot) then call 911, but would never try to kill someone.

But someone breaks into my house, its not my job to determine if they are there to kill me, steal from me, or just examine my decorating.

And no, I do not value the life of a home intruder in my bedroom or living room.

If someone's in my apartment I'd have to assume the worst -- better safe than sorry when it's my life or my partner's (or even my cats') at risk.

By the act of breaking in, that person's become the aggressor and made me the defender; I'm not going to interview him to determine whether or not he means anything worse than stealing my stereo.

However, the general question is a valid one. If you walk out of the house in the morning, and you saw someone break into your car and take off with your CD's or Stereo, do you have a right to shoot him right there? No of course not, you do that and its murder, that I think is a better example.

you felt that you were personally at risk. The question was would you kill someone for taking say you're VCR, period. This guy specifically said he would kill the person irregardless of whether he felt personally threatened or not.

I don't see any situation where a person is attacking me or breaking into my house where it is not a physical threat to my person. I am a woman. I know what happens to the other women I've known in that situation. Robbers are not nice people and they don't mind getting a little *** on top of their stolen VCR.

Yeah, if you could somehow link my brain to the dude and I could be made to understand he was just here for my broken VCR that even Goodwill couldn't take, fine. It beats paying a hauling fee.

But real world don't work that way.

People overstate in these cases because they have been victimized. I don't know of any nice polite robbers outside of caper fiction. If someone is so skilled that they can break into cars and homes and yet somehow magically get away without ever committing a crime of violence against a person, good for them, but I've never encountered such a skilled class of criminal.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

My house has been broken into twice in the past year.

The last time, one of my roommates was home at the time. He came downstairs and stood face to face with the intruders. They ran. He was damn lucky.

If someone breaks in to my home when I am there, I have to assume the worst. If I decide to blow them away, it's not because of my property being stolen, it's because my life is in danger. If someone takes the initiative to break into my home, they have forfeited the benefit of the doubt. As far as I'm concerned, my life is in immediate danger and I will take action.

Like I said, It's not about property. I do value human life above property....however...I value MY life above that of an intruder/could-be murderer.

Sorry if that disgusts you.