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If someone breaks into your house, do they deserve death for it? Even if they're not even armed? There's been several stories in the news about teenagers who broke into old men's homes and were slain unnecessarily after the threat was neutralized and the general consensus was that the men were heroes for protecting their stuff.
Now I'm sure being burgled is traumatic, but is it really a greater evil than killing an intruder? Especially if there was no reason to do so aside from revenge? If so why not treat it the same as murder if apparently it's equally serious and make it a capital crime you can be executed for?
Look, I think if someone breaks into your house, it can get very difficult to tell what is or isn't a threat.
But the cases that you are referencing, I heard the audio of one of those murders and it was the guy lying in wait to shoot some people, that is not defending one's home. He brutally murdered those teens and there isn't a sane person who listen's to that audio that doesn't understand this.
The problem is you have a lot of scared and angry and cowardly gun owners who have psychopathic and vigilante fantasies of killing people.
Sadly, they have an organization the NRA and a political party the conservatives who fight hard to enable their fantasies to become reality.
Once the idea of stand your ground laws and the idea of taking a gun everywhere become the law of the land, then the idea of retreating and avoiding conflict is thrown out in favor of this idea of standing your ground and confronting people.
Anyone who illegally enters a residence in a Western State (Montana, Wyoming, etc.) should be smart enough to realize that the homeowner is very likely a gun owner, and is well versed in the use of his chosen weapons.
Montana law is very explicit as to when force, including deadly force, can be used: See MCA 45-3-102, 103, 104, 105, and 110.
In the not-to-distant past, just TRESPASSING could result in the landowner using deadly force. It still can, if the landowner feels that his life, or anybody Else's life, is in danger. The law is very clear in that regard, too.
I am absolutely in favor of such laws!
If someone breaks into your house, do they deserve death for it?
Hypothetically - you are a woman in your home all alone, you walk into your bedroom and see a strange man ripping open your dresser drawers franticly looking for something:
1. Why is he there, is he a thief looking for jewelry, looking for your handgun, looking for your panties... looking for you, is he looking for your son or daughter?
2. Is he a rapist, a crazed drug-induced maniac, a psychopath, a thief, or all the above?
3. Is he armed, or is he strong enough to easily overpower you without the need of a gun or knife?
The thing is, no matter who you are, you have no freaking clue why someone broke into your house, what their state of mind is, what their intensions are, or whether or not they are armed or if they are willing to cause you harm or kill you.
Look, I think if someone breaks into your house, it can get very difficult to tell what is or isn't a threat.
First off, they broke into your home, so they have already demonstrated that our laws mean nothing to them, and your rights and welfare were of no concern to them, so they are a threat to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iamme73
The problem is you have a lot of scared and angry and cowardly gun owners who have psychopathic and vigilante fantasies of killing people.
So your argument is that the people who are criminals are the ones breaking into homes, and other criminals prefer to lay in wait within their homes to ambush others of their ilk.
If someone breaks into your house, do they deserve death for it? Even if they're not even armed? There's been several stories in the news about teenagers who broke into old men's homes and were slain unnecessarily after the threat was neutralized and the general consensus was that the men were heroes for protecting their stuff.
Now I'm sure being burgled is traumatic, but is it really a greater evil than killing an intruder? Especially if there was no reason to do so aside from revenge? If so why not treat it the same as murder if apparently it's equally serious and make it a capital crime you can be executed for?
if someone breaks into my home I will assume they are there to do my family harm. I will act accordingly until they stop twitching.
Thank God I live in Texas where it is legal to defend your home, your life, and your property.
There is nothing evil about stoping and intruder. period. no further discussion on the subject is needed. If you think it is evil to kill an intruder, there is something wrong with that processor that sits atop your neck.
Look, I think if someone breaks into your house, it can get very difficult to tell what is or isn't a threat.
But the cases that you are referencing, I heard the audio of one of those murders and it was the guy lying in wait to shoot some people, that is not defending one's home. He brutally murdered those teens and there isn't a sane person who listen's to that audio that doesn't understand this.
The problem is you have a lot of scared and angry and cowardly gun owners who have psychopathic and vigilante fantasies of killing people.
Sadly, they have an organization the NRA and a political party the conservatives who fight hard to enable their fantasies to become reality.
Once the idea of stand your ground laws and the idea of taking a gun everywhere become the law of the land, then the idea of retreating and avoiding conflict is thrown out in favor of this idea of standing your ground and confronting people.
Yes he did brutally murder those teens, but he is not representative of the average gun owner. He is representative of the average thug. Our prisons are filled with such people.
I take offense to you describing gun owners as cowardly, psychopathic people. Most are not. Stereotype much?
Any person who would break into another persons property has made a choice. That choice is to risk their own lives on the chance that they will get away with stealing another's possessions.
The teens you sited. This wasn't their first break in, and in fact were caught in the past. The man in question. This wasn't the first time his home was invaded, in fact by these very same teens.
The police do not protect us. They enforce the law. They investigate. Often to no avail.
The man is a lunatic, no question about it. He was completely unjustified in emptying his weapon into the downed teens.
He was justified in protecting his property. I can only imagine the frustration of having your home repeatedly broken into. I'm sorry, but I personally believe that my home and property are more valuable than a criminal's life, who doesn't have a problem violating my home and property.
I might have waited in ambush as well. The police can't and won't protect my property, that I have worked hard for? Then I will. The difference is that I wouldn't have emptied my weapons into them. Once down they are down. Those teens made a choice, a bad choice and they own the consequences of their choices. The home owner made a choice. He now owns the consequences of his choice.
If someone breaks into your house, do they deserve death for it? Even if they're not even armed? There's been several stories in the news about teenagers who broke into old men's homes and were slain unnecessarily after the threat was neutralized and the general consensus was that the men were heroes for protecting their stuff.
Now I'm sure being burgled is traumatic, but is it really a greater evil than killing an intruder? Especially if there was no reason to do so aside from revenge? If so why not treat it the same as murder if apparently it's equally serious and make it a capital crime you can be executed for?
It is not uncommon to punish a thief with death. It is an age old tactic. Think of the man who kills a deer in his king's wood. ..for example. Or stealing bread.
But life was thought to be worthless by some. A price paid for bread was surely equal to the life of a thief.
Very few today think a apple laptop, a deer, or a bread is equal that of human life. Life now has value.
a thief today is not a thief tomorrow.
It is wrong (evil is a tough word) to be judge, jury, and executioner. That is why we have a court system.
You are ONLY authorized to stop a intruder. You are not in the position to be judge, jury, and executioner. No code of Man or God would say a thief deserves death for no other reason that he/she is a thief
Last edited by ChrisFromChicago; 05-07-2014 at 08:56 AM..
Reason: spelling
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