“I’ve seen this illogical reasoning posted many times and couldn’t disagree more.”
It is only illogical to the logic challenged. It is the rare burglar who enters a home knowing the occupants are present. Those that do are looking for thrills as well as cash. They are not looking for an armed confrontation although they may be prepared for one. So put yourself in this burglar’s shoes. You have entered a house that may be occupied. You suddenly learn that your presence has been detected by the sound of a shotgun being racked. The sound comes from behing a closed (possibly locked) door. You do not know the layout of the room the sound came from, how many opponents there are, or their location. You DO know they are well armed and ready. IMO only a suicidal psycho is going to try and enter that room. Situation defused without having to kill someone, blow out my ears and my wife’s, clean up a huge mess, spend time in a police station, hire a lawyer, etc.
On the off chance that someone decides to come through that door they have demonstrated hostile intent and likely VERY determined to kill you. Although I sometimes piss people off, but I haven’t pissed anyone off THAT MUCH in decades. If you come through that door, it’s not going to be pretty.
“I would never give an intruder any idea of my position, nor any idea that my weapon was not ready to be fired.”
What you’ve told him is that your weapon is ready to be fired NOW. I doubt he cares that it wasn’t ready a minute ago.
Good post, Hacklehead.
The old saying “I’d rather by tried by 12 than carried by 6” misses the middle ground: attempt to scare the BG away.
In a home evasion, the homeowner’s goal is, of course, to avoid being killed by the BG (the “carried by 6” outcome).
But if your mental state is to immediately default to a macho violent response (the “tried by 12” option) be prepared for:
- Aggressive questioning by the police. Say the wrong thing the wrong way, and perhaps (depending on the state you live in) you’ll face charges. Even if you’re cleared, say goodbye to your life savings.
- A possible lawsuit from the victim’s family. Again, even if you’re cleared, say goodbye to your life savings.
- Harassment from the victim’s family. Depending on how crazy the victim’s brothers/cousins/friends are, you may end up looking over your shoulder for years to come.
- Nightmares. That may not happen to you. But it happens to plenty of highly trained infantrymen who have had to take another’s life.
Are these possibilities worth risking? Yes!, if the alternative is your death or the death of your family.
There are many situations where conditions demand an immediate and violent defensive measure. In those cases, trying to scare the BG away is foolish and may well get you killed.
But to skip right over attempts to scare him away WHEN CONDITIONS ALLOW is almost as foolish.