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"My stance is, once you decide you're going to engage in a criminal act like breaking/entering, your forfeit your rights and are assuming any and all outcomes that might result, including death."
So in your world, mere decision to do a crime "like" B & E, you are rightfully dead man walking? I'm glad you're not in charge of anything!!!!
""Stand Your Ground" law, which protects homeowners who use deadly force against intruders."
You do NOT know the illegal intruder's INTENTIONS when they break into your house or what they WILL do if you get into their way.
"My stance is, once you decide you're going to engage in a criminal act like breaking/entering, your forfeit your rights and are assuming any and all outcomes that might result, including death."
So in your world, mere decision to do a crime "like" B & E, you are rightfully dead man walking? I'm glad you're not in charge of anything!!!!
OP here.
What I meant with the above quoted statement is: If you're a criminal, and you decide to break into someone's home to rob them, you have essentially decided that the law no longer protects you and you're willing to accept the risk that the homeowner isn't armed and ready to kill you. That's the risk you accept as a criminal when you decide to break the law.
It your world, it sounds like you believe that breaking/entering someone's home is acceptable and you don't deserved certain consequences as a result?
That may be your stance, but its not the law or practice in any democratic, developed country on the globe today. Fortunately, individuals do not make their own laws. Self defense: you can fire your weapon only if your life or the life of your family were in immediate danger. For those who don't understand: you cannot kill any person just because he is (or looks like) a criminal, has a bad character, has been incarcerated, etc, etc. The only condition is if your life was under threat.
So, in this case, what do you do? Wait for them to fire first? Wait for them to display a gun to determine whether you're in immediate danger?
Ask them "Ummm, excuse me, I realized you just kicked my door in, but are you just going to take some things and leave or are you going to physically harm me and my family. Because if you're just here to burglarize me, then that's OK. If you're going to physically harm us, then I'm going to shoot you. Just let me know. Thanks and please don't take the urn. That's grandma......."
So if I'm being chased by someone trying to stab me in the middle of the night and I come upon your locked house looking for refuge or to hide and I admittedly break the law by breaking in in a panic, it's okay to kill me on sight?
Only if monkey's were flying out of your butt, which is about as reasonable as a "Friday the 13th" scenario that you're envisioning.
OP here.
What I meant with the above quoted statement is: If you're a criminal, and you decide to break into someone's home to rob them, you have essentially decided that the law no longer protects you and you're willing to accept the risk that the homeowner isn't armed and ready to kill you. That's the risk you accept as a criminal when you decide to break the law.
It your world, it sounds like you believe that breaking/entering someone's home is acceptable and you don't deserved certain consequences as a result?
It is sad that your powers of observation and deduction are so weak. No grasshopper. The consequences are spelled out in the law and are handed out by the courts, not redneck mouth-breathers slobbering to get a chance to waste somebody for the slightest of pretense. Regular citizens do no carry the titles of Judge, Jury and Executioner - at least not all at once! If there is a threat to your life, then and there, in the immediate, not the speculative or potential, then, and only then (in sane jurisdictions) are you free to blast away and become, in effect,, Judge, Jury and Executioner. Is this so difficult to understand, so bitter of a pill to swallow?
It is sad that your powers of observation and deduction are so weak. No grasshopper. The consequences are spelled out in the law and are handed out by the courts, not redneck mouth-breathers slobbering to get a chance to waste somebody for the slightest of pretense. Regular citizens do no carry the titles of Judge, Jury and Executioner - at least not all at once! If there is a threat to your life, then and there, in the immediate, not the speculative or potential, then, and only then (in sane jurisdictions) are you free to blast away and become, in effect,, Judge, Jury and Executioner. Is this so difficult to understand, so bitter of a pill to swallow?
So again, I ask: how do you determine whether an intruder is a threat or not?
Do they have to tell you?
Do you have to ask them?
How do you know they're not carrying a weapon that you can't see?
At what point do you decide to point, aim and fire?
What happens if you say "Hey, what are you doing in my house!" and they pull out a gun from their pants?
I'm sure your house would be an easy target because if you heard someone kick-in your door in the middle of the night, you'd probably go lock yourself in the bathroom and cower in the corner hoping nothing bad happens.
If you decide to jump out in front of a car, then you have to accept the fact that you might die.
If you decide to enter someone's home illegally, then you have to accept the fact that you might die.
Homeowners (and in some states, vehicle owners) should have a right to defend their property and self. If someone breaks into my house, they chose to forfeit all of their legal rights.
I'll take my chances, even with the lame CA laws. You break into my house you better be wearing a bullet proof vest. This almost became a reality for me 2 years ago and I just missed having a run in with the perp. He "tried" to get a handgun but couldn't get the case open. Instead, the moron stole my fire safe with nothing in it but papers.
It is sad that your powers of observation and deduction are so weak. No grasshopper. The consequences are spelled out in the law and are handed out by the courts, not redneck mouth-breathers slobbering to get a chance to waste somebody for the slightest of pretense. Regular citizens do no carry the titles of Judge, Jury and Executioner - at least not all at once! If there is a threat to your life, then and there, in the immediate, not the speculative or potential, then, and only then (in sane jurisdictions) are you free to blast away and become, in effect,, Judge, Jury and Executioner. Is this so difficult to understand, so bitter of a pill to swallow?
While I have not had to discharge my firearm in self defense I have read up on the matter so I would not have any surprises along the way.
At minimum your life it put on hold for a time. You will probably have to spend hours with the police. Depending on the location you could be brought in front of a grand jury and may need to pay for a lawyer. In one account, the family had to move because the wife ended up cleaning bits of skull and brain matter off the floor, walls and ceiling. She couldn't stand to go into that part of the house any more. Despite being cleared almost immediately, the husband had nightmares about it for at least a year. Another family had threats of retribution from the deceased family and had to move within 24 hours of the self defense shooting.
While you might see me as the bolded statement above, I have spent hundreds of hours studying the downside of this and I am still willing to do whatever it takes to keep myself and my family safe.
So again, I ask: how do you determine whether an intruder is a threat or not?
Do they have to tell you?
Do you have to ask them?
How do you know they're not carrying a weapon that you can't see?
At what point do you decide to point, aim and fire?
What happens if you say "Hey, what are you doing in my house!" and they pull out a gun from their pants?
I'm sure your house would be an easy target because if you heard someone kick-in your door in the middle of the night, you'd probably go lock yourself in the bathroom and cower in the corner hoping nothing bad happens.
If they are actively attacking or threatening you with a weapon, then you are threatened, if not, you're not. The standard applied is what a reasonable person would conclude given the same set of facts. If you confront them, and they charge, well you are under attack and can repel their attack. If they raise their hands, they are not threatening. If you don't feel you are capable of making such a decision, stay where you are, and call the police, because if you are wrong, the Prosecutor, who really doesn't appreciate you shooting his potential case dead, will now take out his frustration on YOU, and believe me, they will.
If you have to ask this question, immediately pawn your guns, because you lack the ability to meet the "reasonable person" standard, and you might hurt yourself or someone else.
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