Burglar killed, homeowner may be charged.

[Deleted]

That is where you are wrong. I will not speak for everyone but where I live yes I can shoot him in the back because my life was in danger, in my home, it does not mater if he was running away or not, he put myself and my family in danger so I have the right to defend myself.

Where I come from, the word "defend" means to repel an attack. If someone is running away from you, you have already repelled the attack, and further action is no longer defense. Shooting him in the back is murder, plain and simple - however the laws of your country view it.

[Deleted]

There is a reason people come from all over the world to live in America and not places like Norway or Australia... I won't turn this into an "us vs. them," but I've never heard of "The Finnish Dream" or non-Americans referring to their nation as "the greatest country on Earth."

I'd hope that people who come to the United States aren't coming because they want to kill people who come into their homes... please lets try not to bring the American Dream into this. Especially if you happen to think that it means the right to kill people.

I mean imagine this situation: You get into a fight in an alley near your house, you and this guy are both drunk but he takes a swing. You happen to have a concealed carry permit and shoot him. (For the sake of this hypothetical he's only bleeding on himself) You realize: oh, oops, and instead of calling 911 right away you decide to move him to the entrance of your home, place a rock in his hand, then slam that rock into the window on your door. You walk inside, call 911 saying there was an attempted robbery and you shot the assailant.

Edit: this gem appeared as I was writing my lolhypothetical.

To be totally honest, if I could push a button to "rid" the world of the truly undesirable, I would.

So since minorities tend to be (statistically speaking) more like to be involved in violent crime you'd get rid of them? That's next to ethnic cleansing. What gives you (or anyone else) the right to play god?

[MortalWombat]

Are you seriously assuming who he is?

Let me have a go then. What if the past few months have been rough, he has 3 starving children, and has been shafted by his country. So he decides to break into a house to rob some food for his starving family.

Don't assume every burglar is a "crackhead". That's just plain silly.

Doesn't change the fact he is still someone breaking into your house. In fact I don't see how that makes him any less dangerous at all considering he would be very desperate to steal and not get caught. I don't care if he is trying to save the world by trying to break into my house I'm still putting the value of my own life way higher than his. Assuming anything other than "this person is a threat" in a situation like that is just insane.

Also I never understood why people were always so eager to lessen the severity of crimes committed by people for things like that. Like somehow it makes it okay to steal things from others just because of that.

[maxalyss]

Are you seriously assuming who he is?

Let me have a go then. What if the past few months have been rough, he has 3 starving children, and has been shafted by his country. So he decides to break into a house to rob some food for his starving family.

Don't assume every burglar is a "crackhead". That's just plain silly.

He is climbing in my daughters window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That man is a dead man, he should have gotten a job or robbed some chain store that isn't going to kill him. wow

[King Shark]

Are you seriously assuming who he is?

Let me have a go then. What if the past few months have been rough, he has 3 starving children, and has been shafted by his country. So he decides to break into a house to rob some food for his starving family.

Don't assume every burglar is a "crackhead". That's just plain silly.

I don't give a fuck if he was a downsized janitor at Goldman Sachs, with 3 emaciated, autistic children with cancer back at home. He's breaking into my house, then the only thing I'm assuming is that my wife and my child are all in immediate danger, and I will handle the situation as such; prepared to use lethal force, immediately. And I will feel very little remorse if it comes to it either.

[Glnger]

Unfortunately, that seems to be the part of the topic up for debate. Most reasonable people will concede that hurting, maiming or killing an intruder that poses a(n immediate) threat to you or your loved ones safety is, or should be, allowed.

However, it seems that some people think that shooting someone straight away, or shooting them in the back as they run away, is the answer. These people obviouslydon't understand restraint or discretion.

Yes, some children (man-children included) believe life is like counter-strike. A gun, or violence is the best way to make up for small d***syndrome. It's a fact of life.

[rol3x]

Its important to identify that crime in the US and Canada isnt quite the same, I know here in Aus the chance of a robber being armed with a gun is lower, and the chance og them shooting you for no reason is tiny so me pulling a weapon provokes and just causes the robber to panic and kill me.
In the US a homeowner is very likely to have a gun so the robbers feel they have to shoot people to remain safe, I dont know how it is in Canada exactly, I hear the gun laws are similar to ours (could be very wrong there).
Killing someone for robbing you IS murder, its irrelevent how you value thier life because of them taking your precious insured trinkets. If they are actually attacking you its self defence if not it is murder.

[Deleted]

He would get out in a year or so and I would live in fear. Life is too short to live in fear and sacrifice some percentage of my life for someone who was trying to rob/hurt me. If he was running and was outside already I would not shoot him, because that would show me he was scared and probably not a threat. To be totally honest, if I could push a button to "rid" the world of the truly undesirable, I would.

Christ on a bike, you would kill someone just to avoid being afraid of them? I realize we're getting away from moral and legal arguments, and into your own personal paranoia and neurosis, but ridding the world of everyone who looks at you funny is not socially acceptable!

[Deleted]

I don't give a fuck if he was a downsized janitor at Goldman Sachs, with 3 emaciated, autistic children with cancer back at home. He's breaking into my house, then the only thing I'm assuming is that my wife and my child are all in immediate danger, and I will handle the situation prepared to use lethal force, immediately. And I will feel ABSOLUTELY no regret if it comes to it either.

What if as some people have postulated: he is the poor unlucky father of the cute minority girl next door, only he happens to have Alzheimer's and thinks he's going into your house. Suddenly you just shot an old sick man. Do you feel regret now? I think your callous disregard for human life to be rather depressing.

[warhead0]

Yes, some children (man-children included) believe life is like counter-strike. A gun, or violence is the best way to make up for small d***syndrome. It's a fact of life.

It's completely illogical to believe something like that.
People don't kill other people beacuse they are upset that they didn't get a few extra inches.

It worries me that you seem to have come to that assumption.

Are mass shooting disaters under this category too?

[Harry Botter]

oh boy, in Australia if you actively trained a dog to attack someone and you were not on duty in the police force, and it then attacked someone even in defence of your home/person, you would get sued big time.

To all the rednecks in this thread, sanctity of life is paramount. It does not matter if that person is the worst scum on the earth (aka CEO's), the poorest beggar on the street or the crazy gun wielding homeowner. No man, woman, child or body of people hold the right to remove a life, which is a concept held in all civilized cultures with the exception of the united states

Well lets look at the real world for a second. These civilized cultures you speak of are weak and pathetic. Most civilized cultures who value life above all else generally lack the means to defend their life due to their ineptness to realize that it is in man's nature to be violent animals and thus when someone decides they want to take from them what they value so highly they lose it. If you do not have the backbone to defend your family by whatever means is needed then you are doing them a grave injustice and do not deserve to have something you are not willing to defend should the occasion arise.

People like you, pacifists, and John Lennon just to name a couple are entirely whats wrong with the world. You live in a self absorbed world and are blind to the fact that man has primal and aggressive nature, that will result in bad things happening. You think that if you act all nice and sweet that the rest of the world will follow suit. It is that fundamental flaw in the mind of a pacifist that causes nations, and cultures to be overrun and taken by force. You need to grow up and start living in the real world because it is going to be a sad sad day when you are face to face with someone who wants to cause harm to your family, home or whatever and you arent willing to defend them.

[maxalyss]

Christ on a bike, you would kill someone just to avoid being afraid of them? I realize we're getting away from moral and legal arguments, and into your own personal paranoia and neurosis, but ridding the world of everyone who looks at you funny is not socially acceptable!

I live in NY City, I see a hundred thousand people a day. I care about 3 of them, the rest or most of them are selfish pieces of feces, not because I have a delusion, but because I see it with my eyes on my way to work everyday.

[Woltereck]

If someone broke into my house, I'd kill them. It comes down to, him or me, and I'd be damn if I let someone who comes into my house with the intention to steal my things and possibly harm my family without a fight. I come from Germany, by the way.

[the1seth]

In America yes, not in Canada. To be quite honest, it actually pisses me off that there is no right to self defense in our country. It's like the burglar who tried to sue a home owner a few years ago because he broke into the house by falling through the sky light and landed on a knife that cut his leg open. If someone broke into my house and I defended myself, whether the person died or not, should not be a consequence to me.

Thats actually from the movie liar liar I have never heared of that incendent actually happening.

[Dedweight]

To all the rednecks in this thread, sanctity of life is paramount. It does not matter if that person is the worst scum on the earth (aka CEO's), the poorest beggar on the street or the crazy gun wielding homeowner. No man, woman, child or body of people hold the right to remove a life, which is a concept held in all civilized cultures with the exception of the united states

Of course the sanctity of life is paramount, killing an intruder should be the last thing someone should resort to but if my family is being threatened I believe I should be able to defend them to my fullest potential be it physically attacking them or straight up shooting them, preferably without killing them of course but if they die because of it that shouldn't be something I have to worry about considering the circumstances that led up to it.

In my State the law appears to agree with me in that I should be able to defend my home and family to the best of my ability, this also extends to forceful entry to my vehicle(assuming I'm in it) and the defense of a stranger.

[Eliathe]

Did you read this part?

Details about the incident are still shaky — we have no confirmation as to how the confrontation started, who was armed, and what course of action was taken by the homeowners before the burglar was stabbed — and the consequences are still unknown. An investigation is ongoing, and there are chances that the homeowner may face charges.

[King Shark]

There's a huge crash outside. Your neighbor goes outside to investigate. He notices your front door open. He goes inside to make sure you're okay. You hear the crash too, grab your gun, and go downstairs. It's dark and you can't see very well. You spot your neighbor from behind but don't recognize him because it's dark. You blow him away. Congratulations. You just murdered your neighbor in cold blood.

All intruders are not even hostile and there's way too many idiots in the world. And when idiots get together, it's always a massacre.

A huge crash outside, he notices my front door open and decides to walk in, knowing full well that it's dark and I can't see very well. He apparently makes NO announcement to his presence, and as such I end up shooting him in the back. Unfortunate, but I'll face no legal recourse as a result of his fatal lack of insight. Will I feel regret, remorse? Of course, I'm not a complete monster.

Fortunately, this hypothetical situation is a bit outlandish and unlikely to happen to me, because my real neighbors wouldn't enter a house that isn't theirs uninvited, especially at night after hearing a unidentifiable noise that was apparently loud enough to wake up the neighborhood.

[Harry Botter]

There's a huge crash outside. Your neighbor goes outside to investigate. He notices your front door open. He goes inside to make sure you're okay. You hear the crash too, grab your gun, and go downstairs. It's dark and you can't see very well. You spot your neighbor from behind but don't recognize him because it's dark. You blow him away. Congratulations. You just murdered your neighbor in cold blood.

All intruders are not even hostile and there's way too many idiots in the world. And when idiots get together, it's always a massacre.

This is just the stupidest example i have ever seen. Anyone who would hear a car crash and think its a gun most likely does not need a gun to start with, if they cant be bothered to check outside......i mean really, have you actually ever heard a gun fire in real life?

[StationaryHawk]

I seem to be hearing a lot of stories like this from the United States recently. Saddens me.

[maxalyss]

Did you read this part?

Details about the incident are still shaky — we have no confirmation as to how the confrontation started, who was armed, and what course of action was taken by the homeowners before the burglar was stabbed — and the consequences are still unknown. An investigation is ongoing, and there are chances that the homeowner may face charges.

Dude this turned into our personal opinion on what we would do like 10 pages ago chief.