Posted on 02/06/2006 11:35:25 AM PST by neverdem
The law says you must act like a coward. In your own home. Even when your life is threatened.
Many states have criminal-friendly "duty to retreat" laws. A victim in his house is mandated to retreat from an attacker until he is cornered. Only then is the prey allowed to use lethal force on the predator. Prosecutors in those states have been known to victimize the victim (such as charging him with manslaughter) who prefers to fire back rather than to back off.
The National Rifle Association has been trying to end the insanity state by state.
Florida came to its senses last year. It enacted a law based on the "Castle Doctrine" -- that one's home is one's castle. A person now is not legally required to be hunted down room by room by an intruder before the victim pulls the trigger. The law allows the victim to shoot back without fear of being prosecuted for being overzealous about protecting his life. And it prohibits criminals from suing their more aggressive victims. All their victims, actually.
"Somebody should not be twice victimized, first by the assailant and then by the legal system trying to destroy his life," says Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, the largest organization representing gun owners after the NRA.
But the Florida law does more.
Car-jackers beware; now one's car is his mobile castle. And better still, if a victim is not in a home or car, now he legally can use deadly force. Sunshine State criminals without a death wish might want to consider career counseling. Or take Horace Greeley's advice to go west. But if they do, they had better hurry.
Wyoming is the latest battleground. The NRA is lobbying there and in 11 other states to repeal duty-to-retreat laws...
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
"I know a lot of cops, (one of whom is a Chief of Police and personal friend,) and they all carry Glocks or Sigs in .40 S&W or .357 Sig. I wonder why. Maybe they're just stooopid. Eh?"
Of course they carry handguns. However, if they get out of their car and face an entry situation, at least one of the officers will take the shotgun with him. That's why it's right there in the middle of the front seat of the car.
Home defense is a completely different situation than being on patrol as a cop.
Unfortunately, they cannot be ignored, due to agressive prosecution by hoplophobic prosecutors. Even following them to the letter isn't enough. A man was convicted of Manslaughter here in Maryland some years ago, when a young woman, who resented his attentions on her sister, egged on a group of inebriated young men, to assault this guy at a party in his own house.
Mindful of the "duty to retreat" the guy retreated to his bedroom, whereupon the egged on group, three or four in number, broke down the door of his bedroom, he ended up shooting one of the group, and is now in prison, even though he retreated.
Once *I* read the account, I made a decision. I would never retreat, because if I could be successfully prosecuted after such a retreat, then the message was, "don't resist, under any circumstances". That I cannot, and will not follow...
the infowarrior
Heck, I'd kill 'em so clean they wouldn't leave a blood trail. Mr. Dead-Eye, that's me. Intruders beware...
I got it! Just use a pillow and smother the perp. Kewl.
at a guess, your econ prof may at one time have been robbed
NC has a duty to retreat for it's CCW holders and for homeowners. It got slipped into legislation after a Durham man backshot some teens looting his garage as they were running across his back yard. He was acquitted, so the busy bodys felt something had to be done.
As it stands now, I am supposed to stand and watch as thugs carry my plasma tv out the front door, or clear out my gun safe, etc.
By law, I can only shoot them if they are attacking me or when they are first entering my home.
"Neck snapped clean."
Duty to aim and empty magazine
My wife was a bit scared of firearms, too, when we first got together. She grew up in a home where nobody had them.
I started her out with the little Crosman pump-up rifle and a 10 meter range. Fun stuff. No report. No recoil. Just trying to get the smallest pattern.
Moved her up to a .22 rifle, doing the same sort of target shooting, then borrowed my dad's old .410 and busted a bunch of clays with it.
Took her to the range and we fired pistols, starting with a Colt Woodsman and ending up with the 1911, which she fired about twice before laying it on the shooting bench and saying, "No thanks."
So, we went back to the clays...starting with low-base shells in a 20 ga. side-by-side and finally ended up shooting the 12. She doesn't like the recoil of the big smoothbore, but handles it OK, and she's tall enough so it fits her pretty well, too.
When we shoot shotguns, she sticks to the 20, but it's a Mossberg 500 now. She's pretty good. Not as good as I am, but pretty good at taking wing shots. She won't hunt, though.
She does like fishing. I hate to take her, though, because she always seems to end up with the biggest fish, no matter what we're fishing for. She finds it very amusing. I'm not laughing.
I'll drink to that! Spot-on!! It's like the sign my boys once gave me: "I've got a .45 and a shovel and I doubt anyone will miss you!"
I posted the same reply before reading any more replies.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1572923/posts?page=72#72
I saw that on a bumper sticker just outside Austin in Williamson County.
Your first post didn't make it clear that you planned on apprehending the perp ...
The cost to repair the hole in my house after a .44 goes thru him, and the cost of the cleaning bill, and the tv that broke when he dropped it, and the time off work for legal issues, far outweighs what I have in my house that could be stolen.
sounded like your stuff wasn't worth protecting.
Most thieves, if not armed
There's the rub ... do I wait to find out if someone who has broken into my home is armed ... that's taking chances with my loved ones that I'm not willing to take.
NJ for sure.
Good one Arrowhead ...
Actually, I wanted to link to the exact post, but my reply to you was the next one. I tired that too and see what was going on and did not mean to do that another FReeper.
Rule #1: Do not move the body.
OK, say I go downstairs with my .44, see a guy with my $2000 tv. I tell him to put it down, he doesn't, I shoot him.
1) He drops the tv - $2000 replacement cost
2) At less than 10', the .44 goes through him, and at the least, puts a big hole in the wall, probably some furniture with it.
3)I have to repair the hole, and replace any damaged furniture
4) I have to replace the carpet
5) I have to paint the walls
6) I will have legal fees
7) I will lose time from work
8) My homeowners doesn't cover this
Much more than $2000, much more than your 250 hrs. Unless you have to feel what it is like to kill someone, it just doesn't make sense to shoot the guy. I don't need that feeling.
Proactively to protect life, yes....not something that I can replace easily. I have done enough cowboy stuff in my life.
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