CA: More Burglars Shot, Less Burglaries. Who Knew?

Gun Watch ^ | 17 December, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Who would suspect that when burglars are shot, the burglary rate would go down?

I have seen the sentiment before, but never in quite such a succinct way.  The article was about a third burglar suspect being shot and killed in Richmond, California, this year.  From  richmondconfidential.org:

Terrell Ruben, 42, became the third person shot and killed in an attempted burglary in Richmond this year. A Richmond homeowner shot Ruben in the chest after he discovered Ruben and another man attempting to steal property from his backyard last Saturday. 

I think most people would see a clear connection between more burglars being shot, and fewer burglaries being committed, but it seems to escape the writer of the article.  This bit of journalistic word-twisting is in the article.  It shows a peculiar view of reality: 

Despite the unusually high number people shot in burglary attempts, residential burglaries have gone down 28 percent compared to last year in the period between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30.

To most people, this would seem to be a reversal of causation.  If you shoot more burglars, you will get less burglaries, and certainly less home invasions, where people who want to steal your stuff are willing to do it when you are there.   There is a reason why criminological research shows that places where guns are highly restricted, such as in England, have much higher levels of home invasions. 

I have seen this weird reversal of causality with the restoration of the right to bear arms and to defend oneself and others, as shall issue concealed carry, castle doctrine, and stand your ground laws have been implemented across the nation.

That version goes something like this:

In spite of higher numbers of self defense shootings, the overall murder rate is down.


Again, most people would assume that most of those who are justifiably shot are violent criminals, and they would be correct.   If more violent criminals are removed from society, then it makes sense that the murder rate would drop.

The old "progressive elite" model of murder, where the average murderer is an ordinary Joe who just got upset that day, and a gun was handy, has been discredited.  The modern model of murder is that most murders are committed by a tiny segment of violent criminals.   If those violent criminals are in jail or dead, they are not committing crimes.

Most people can easily understand that logic.   But most reporters seem to be stuck in the old discredited "progressive elite" model of murder, and are surprised that when you make crime less attractive, you get less of it.

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[marktwain]

Who would think that less criminals would lead to less crime?

[Ken H]

Who would think that less criminals would lead to less crime?

[slaps forehead] But of course! How could I have overlooked it all these years?

[Pelham]

It does thin out the herd.

[Greysard]

In reality there are not that many violent criminals in the society. However their ranks look far bigger than they actually are because each criminal commits many crimes; sometimes several per day. A bored young man with nothing better to do can vandalize a car, throw a brick through a window, paint graffiti on a wall, drive aggressively, participate in a fistfight, use drugs, illegally carry a firearm... all that every single day.

[Pontiac]

But most reporters seem to be stuck in the old discredited "progressive elite" model of murder, and are surprised that when you make crime less attractive, you get less of it.

I think I would put it this way.

But most reporters seem to be stuck in the old discredited "progressive elite" model of murder, and are surprised that when you make the commission of a crime more likely to be lethal, you get less of it.

Death is about the only thing that many criminals actually fear.

Few actually fear prison. They don’t like it but it is not a real deterrent. They know that most of the time they will not do real time (especially for burglary).

[Blueflag]

Fewer, not less.

Fewer burglaries.

[Bullish]

I'm completely in favor of burglar control.

[dr_lew]

I think most people would see a clear connection between more burglars being shot, and fewer burglaries being committed, but it seems to escape the writer of the article. This bit of journalistic word-twisting is in the article.

The logic being expressed is that the number of burglars being shot is an index of the number burglaries, under the assumption of a constant risk of being shot per burglary attempt. So, in this view, it is an anomaly that this index is increasing when other evidence suggests the number of burglary attempts is decreasing.

[NautiNurse]

Amen.

[jkeith3213]

Here’s what I don’t get about some people on here, not you, but shoot a thief in in your back yard = good shoot. But, shoot a thief in you garage = murder.

Something left in garage to steal in open = murder, but something in you back yard in the open = good shoot.

I say don’t steal from people, or you might get shot.

[jkeith3213]

Also, of course more dead criminals = fewer crimes committed by criminals. No one should question that, unless they have no real grasp of reality, aka liberals.

[Cboldt]

The laws that justify use of deadly force vary from state to state, so seeing disparate results is expected.

[Celtic Conservative]

Just remember the anti-burglar mantra: Front sight, front sight, front sight...

CC

[trebb]

Our home is a bit isolated by being set back from the road 100 yards and being surrounded by dense foliage. A numbe rof years ago, some burglaries were happening in the area. The wife came home from work early one day and when she entered the front door, she noted that the back door was hanging open. Training took over and she backed out, pulled her weapon and did a walk around the house. Discovered it to be empty and noted that the bedroom blinds were pushed aside. Seems they had just gained entry when she showed up and they beat it out the door they had kicked in and went out through the back undeveloped land they had come into the area by.

Next door neighbor got hit too and they had time to actually rob them. This is relevant because when wife discovered everything was clear, she stepped out, hollered for the cowards to come back and fired one into the ground (at time we were in county and it was legal to fire weapons on our property). They must have heard because a few weeks later, the neighbor got hit again and they stayed away from our place.

[Tupelo]

I think the Richmond Confidential writer knows that an armed homeowner just-creates a Hostile Workplace for these poor burglars. If this keeps up, there will be fewer enterprising young folks entering the business. Another lost opportunity for inner city yutes.

[DaveA37]

“More Burglars Shot, Less Burglaries. Who Knew?”.........

DUH?

[jkeith3213]

I was mainly talking about people’s attitudes, I understand laws vary from state to state, but they shouldn’t vary that much. And by shouldn’t, I mean its stupid that shooting burglar could possibly be illegal.

Just don’t rob people and you probably won’t be shot. Seems easy enough for most people.

I just blows my mind that anyone would think shooting a burglar is murder, especially on this forum, but it still happens, even within the last couple days.

[Jack Hydrazine]

“Despite the unusually high number people shot in burglary attempts, residential burglaries have gone down 28 percent compared to last year in the period between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30.”

By the way the author wrote this sentence you would think that he was expecting the residential burglary rate to go down even more than what it did. Or maybe he’s expecting more law-abiding citizens to shoot more burglars.

With Leftists it’s either we are shooting too many of them or too little. Make up your mind you Leftists!

[TangoLimaSierra]

Fewer, not less.

Fewer burglaries.

Thank you. One of my pet peeves.

[eastforker]

The guy that shot the kid in the garage told people he was setting a trap and that he planned on shooting someone. Rule #1. If you are going to set out bait, don’t tell anyone you are setting out bait.