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If someone broke into your home and had a gun and there was NO doubt that they were going to kill your family, would you take their life? Or walking down a street & someone pulled a gun on you & yours. Would you fight for your own life?
I certainly would. There's a 1911 on my desk at all times, and a SIG P229 on my nightstand, for a reason. Taking a life is the very last thing I ever want to do, but if someone puts me in that situation, gosh, I'm real sorry....
I would shoot to wound (particularly the kneecap if possible). If at all possible, I'd follow up with a shot to the arm. Then call 911 for police and ambulance. A live person under arrest for armed robbery and attempted murder is likely to get put away in prison for a long, long time. Sometimes living is a worse punishment than death.
If you shoot to wound your likely to be sued & lose your home.
If you shoot to wound your likely to be sued & lose your home.
Actually, if you "shoot to wound" you're most likely to miss entirely and shoot someone in the background, and even if you don't miss, the bullet will over-penetrate the extremity and still hit someone in the background.
"Shooting to wound" is reckless endangerment, just like shooting "warning shots" into the air. So, yeah, lawsuit city...from more than one direction.
Moreover, if you can afford to shoot to wound--meaning you have time to aim carefully and the bad guy is standing stock still--in most scenarios you probably don't have good cause to shoot at all. Shooting to wound means you know you can afford to miss and/or the person is only a minor threat that does not need to actually be stopped.
I would definitely kill someone to protect my own life NOW; however, when I was faced with that exact situation in my early 20s, I did not. A man stuck a knife in my ribs (it caught on my thick sweater, thankfully) and then tried to strangle me afterwards. I actually talked him into giving me the knife, but he didn't believe me when I said I wouldn't tell anyone he'd attacked me and that's why he was strangling me. Fortunately someone came along (this was on a college campus in broad daylight) and the perp ran away. If the same incident happened now and I was armed, I would simply blast the perp to smithereens - the heck with his "rights". I often think of that guy; they let him out of a hospital for the criminally insane after 2 years saying he was cured. Yeah, sure.
If someone broke into your home and had a gun and there was NO doubt that they were going to kill your family, would you take their life? Or walking down a street & someone pulled a gun on you & yours. Would you fight for your own life?
Personally I don't approve of people shooting first and asking questions later. In America we have this irrational fear of random people storming into our houses with specific intent to kill us.
Yup, because home invasions and the like are stuff of fiction.
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Originally Posted by redguard57
I would give at least one verbal warning, ie: "Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!" or something. I don't know how you people could live with yourselves if you shot someone unnecessarily.
So, if a stranger was actually in your house, you'd take the time to determine their intent?
"Oh, you're only a meth head who wants stuff to pawn quickly? Dang, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
I've known a lot of people in my life who have either legally carried guns or who have guns in their home. The one constant with these people I have known is that they don't treat carrying or having a gun like the "Old West". It is a simple, "I sincerely hope I never have to use it, but if I am in that situation, I want to be prepared".
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Originally Posted by redguard57
One time a guy tried to open my apt door around 1am - I heard him messing with the lock saying drunkenly "why's the key not working?" and started banging on the door. Instead of SHOOTING HIM DEAD I opened the door, he looked at me confused, I asked "what's your apartment number?" and gave him a firm shove in the right direction. Some of you would want to shoot the guy dead.
Yeah, that situation is a lot different than someone actually being on your property.
Personally, I'd probably have been dialing 911 as I was not opening the door to invite potential trouble inside.
One time a guy tried to open my apt door around 1am - I heard him messing with the lock saying drunkenly "why's the key not working?" and started banging on the door. Instead of SHOOTING HIM DEAD I opened the door, he looked at me confused, I asked "what's your apartment number?" and gave him a firm shove in the right direction. Some of you would want to shoot the guy dead.
I would not have opened the door.
Mamadou Diallo's wife opened the door under that kind of circumstance, and now Diallo is being charged with killing an attempted rapist.
Mamadou Diallo's wife opened the door under that kind of circumstance, and now Diallo is being charged with killing an attempted rapist.
I should have mentioned that there was also a woman's voice & I had heard them coming down the walkway wondering why they were headed toward my door. I had the situation fairly well figured out. He was pretty embarrassed about trying to get into the wrong apartment in front of his new girlfriend, lol. She was laughing quite a bit about it. I would not have done myself or anyone any favors by shooting him. The apartments all looked the same except the numbers There were a couple taverns down the block and the occupants went there now and then. I could see how, if you're 6 or 8 drinks deep, you might walk back confused.
I had a baseball bat behind the door just in case. I guess I just don't fear for my life and distrust my fellow man as much as you guys.
There is nothing in my house worth killing over. All the contents are worth maybe $20K all together and my insurance covers up to 70K. I keep my most valuable, irreplaceable possessions in a storage unit that has 2 layers of security. The safety plan for any kind of emergency is to get out of the effing house & call the police- it would take about as long to kick the screen out and jump out the window as it would to lock, load and fire my weapon. I live on a main arterial road - Police response to my house is 5 minutes or less.
In fact the "druggie breaking in to get stuff to pawn/trade for more drugs" did happen in that neighborhood... to people who already dealt or did drugs. Home invasions do occur but are rarely completely random. Most of them, the invaders choose that house for a reason, usually they want drugs or cash. If they are professional burglars they are going to hit 10-15 houses when no one's home so they can at least get 10-15 TVs which is the only way to make any real money off them.
You have to be pretty brazen to invade a home - the occupants may be armed and everyone knows that. Also, if you're caught the sentences are twice as bad as burglary.
Last edited by redguard57; 06-06-2016 at 03:56 PM..
I had a baseball bat behind the door just in case. I guess I just don't fear for my life and distrust my fellow man as much as you guys.
Yet, your door was locked, and when you opened it, you had a baseball bat within reach. That doesn't sound to me like "trust in your fellow man".
Quote:
Originally Posted by redguard57
There is nothing in my house worth killing over. All the contents are worth maybe $20K all together and my insurance covers up to 70K. I keep my most valuable, irreplaceable possessions in a storage unit that has 2 layers of security. The safety plan for any kind of emergency is to get out of the effing house & call the police- it would take about as long to kick the screen out and jump out the window as it would to lock, load and fire my weapon. I live on a main arterial road - Police response to my house is 5 minutes or less.
Yeah, I never understood the idea of leaving possessions "in the vault".
Be that as it may though, not everyone lives within spitting distance of a police station. And, even if they did, some people might feel that running from the house is not the best course of action.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redguard57
You have to be pretty brazen to invade a home - the occupants may be armed and everyone knows that. Also, if you're caught the sentences are twice as bad as burglary.
The point is though, that they do occur.
As slight as the chance is, some people prefer to prepare themselves for it.
If someone broke into your home and had a gun and there was NO doubt that they were going to kill your family, would you take their life? Or walking down a street & someone pulled a gun on you & yours. Would you fight for your own life?
I ask this because I see so many here who are against the death penalty and who are pro-life. I have to wonder if they would just stand by and let their family be killed or defend them. I'm not tying to be a troll I just have to wonder at what point they believe that taking a life is okay.
This is a simple answer for me.
Yes.
Yes but, only to save another life or threat of great harm.
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