InHouston said;
That kind of over-thinking will get you killed in a home invasion.
It's over thinking to worry about being charged with a crime because you executed someone who was no longer a threat?
So what will you do in a home invasion?
First of all, a home invasion isn't the biggest threat I face. I don't deal drugs, nor hang with those people who do. I don't keep a large amount of cash or other valuables in my home. I am careful about who has access to my home so that word doesn't get out about what valuables I may have here. So a home invasion is not right up there at the top of my threat assessment,
Secondly, I am always armed. The doors are always locked which will give me warning of an intruder. If someone begins to break down my door he will give me enough advance warning to be somewhat prepared.
You’re not the police, and most intruders will not necessarily obey your commands to surrender.
Actually, I am the police. I have arrested many people at gunpoint and held people who were doing a burglary to a motor vehicle at my neighbors home for officers who were on duty.
If they think you’re hesitant, or don’t have the courage to stop them, then you risk being overtaken by them.
Good point, in fact I have taught that often presence is the factor that causes you to have to fight or not fight to officers I was breaking in on the job.
I'm not going to stand by, nor hide, nor try to assess the intruder’s intentions and the possible outcome of my actions. If an intruder is in my home, he is by default a lethal threat to me because the bastard is crazy for being in there in the first place. And I will assume (the worst) that the intruder has the intention to eliminate me as a witness to his crime. Because he has invaded my home, my life is in danger.
In many jurisdictions in this country that attitude will get you at the very least, sued in civil court, maybe charged with murder or manslaughter if the intruder turns out to be the drunk from down the street who didn't know what house he was in. That my friend is the law in many places. Like it or not it's the law.
And the point you will be arguing in those jurisdictions is if the intruder you just exercised your constitutional rights to kill was in fact a threat to you. You're going to have a hard time proving that the unarmed man you just gunned down in your entrance hall who had a BAC of 0.29, and who lived down the block and often stumbled through his neighbors' back yards on his way home after night on the town, was a threat to your life. Castle laws may protect you from criminal prosecution, but they won't protect you from the inevitable civil suit. Maybe the dead man's attorneys will leave you with enough money to buy a belt you can cut a notch in to signify your kill.....
Every castle law I am aware of that has provisions that protect you from a civil suit require your actions to have been reasonable. Shooting the drunk from down the block because he stumbled into your house and posed no other threat to you besides being there, might not be considered reasonable. In fact, I can see a judge letting a civil suit into court under those circumstances, even in
by God Texas where internet legend says you can shoot anyone at anytime....
In the past two weeks in Houston alone, two men entered a pregnant woman’s home and shot her four times. Two home invaders entered a home, and when confronted by a young teenager, they shot him in the chest and ran off. Another entered a man’s home while he was taking a nap. He ordered the intruder out of the house, and the intruder lunged at him anyway unarmed. The homeowner shot him dead with no charges filed. That’s three of the six home invasions that ended violently in just the past two weeks.
And what's the back story here? Do some checking. I bet you find out that those cases were all drug related. Home invasion robberies where the victims aren't somehow involved with gangs and drugs are pretty rare.
XDKingslayer said;
Well if "The High Road" is asking a home invader if they would like some tea, then I can do without "The High Road". But from being here a little while, I can see that's not the case. At least with 99.9% of it's population...
Yes, I AM making a permanent record of shooting someone who enters my house. I will scream it from the highest dirt pile in Florida (sorry, no mountains...). I have the legal right to shoot anyone in my home without my welcome. Take some time to read over Florida's "castle doctrine".
You can see it as machismo, bravado, bragging, or chest beating. Kick in my door at 2 a.m., place yourself between me and me two daughters, and see for yourself. I won't ask you to surrender. I won't ask you to leave. I won't ask you for tea.
First off, if I come through your door at 2:30 am, I'm coming with the rest of the tac team and you'll be squinting into the 9v Surefires and wondering what happened before you have time to react.
Both of you could come out of central casting when Sarah Brady calls for a sterotypical redneck gun nut NRA member. You are both advocating shooting people just because you can...not because they are articulating any kind of a threat. If you think that's the high road and being a responsible gun owner, then perhaps you'd be happier posting on a different forum.
Responsible gunowners make sure there is a threat before they use deadly force. Every situation is different. There have been situations where it was legal and justified to shoot someone
through the door. Then again there have been situations where someone actually gained entry and even though a castle law made it legal to kill that person, it didn't save them from the civil suit.
And let's not even to get into what if he he stops the attack or is just wounded, would I be charged with murder if I killed him......
Jeff
) J/K
out of my house, and let the cops try to find him/her later.
)