Posted by txhoghunter: Unfortunately for a home invader, unless they give up in those first 2 seconds as NavyLT said, the chance of them walking out uninjured is very slim.
You are apparently assuming that the possibility that he will choose to depart is "very slim"; that is precisely what happened in each of the three home invasions that I have repelled over the years. Surely you do not believe that you may lawfully shoot if he opts to leave. Surely you do not think it likely that earwitness testimony, the testimony of one or more of the perps, and/or forensic evidence will fail to indicate that something else happened.
More importantly, however, you are overlooking another very real possibility: that one or more than one home invader will walk out uninjured after one has shot
you while your attention had been focussed on the one who had surrendered.
How many burglaries involve only one criminal?
Of those that involve two, what is the likelihood that the armed homeowner will happen to get the drop on both of them?
And should two surrender, what happens to you when the guy in the car decides to investigate?
You really do not want to shoot anyone, but of course you may have to.
You really,
really do not want to be holding someone at gunpoint, unless you
know that he has been acting alone, and unless you can manage to not have a gun in your hand (and to not be overcome by the perp at that point) when first responders arrive.
So, what do you do in the unhappy circumstance that a home invader should surrender to you? Well, perhaps you could tell your family to remain in a safe room, and you can find a place in which to be that would be relatively safe from ambush....
The thing is, these are not the days of Blackstone, during which a felon who had fled the scene was as good as gone; these are not the days of Bonnie and Clyde, in which fleeing crooks could drive to another state and operate there in anonymity; these are not the days of Adam 12, in which a description given over the radio was the only thing the police had to go on.
These are the days of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and all of the others of their ilk, and of all of their minions, in which your cell phone photos and security camera images can be sent almost instantly to the screens of every police officer for miles around.
You are much, much safer if they leave forthwith. They won't be going very far, and their detention and apprehension will not put you in the gravest danger.
I like Deanimator's philosophy:
I'm not a cop. I don't want to be a cop.
I'm not detaining anybody.
It's my job to defend myself and anyone else under my care or to whom I feel an obligation.
Once the threat has been neutralized, the last thing I want is to be responsible for somebody who only moments before, was trying to kill or maim me.
If you're my assailant, I want you to be in one of two conditions:
- Physically incapacitated and totally unable to present a further threat to me.
- Physically absent.
I don't care which.
...with one minor nuance: I much prefer physically absent.
