[TLI]

Does "Duty to retreat" override common sense? ie bunch of breaking glass, obvious robber walking through broken glass with armload of store goods... no flame but how are you tying in duty to retreat (which I understand and also take seriously.. it prevents stupid mistakes) with a guy walking out of a store with a armload of merchandise after breaking in? Would it not be the suspects duty to halt and explaine the situation?
TLI

[ExSoldier]

Citizens arrest is perhaps one of the weakest doctrines in law....with the excepton of that strange critter federally sanctioned and known as the "Bounty Hunter" LOL! And even those guys are often poorly treated by the cops.

You can't use a citizen's arrest where the crime is a property crime to justify using deadly force. The doctrine is pretty similar nationwide with Louisiana being a notable exception...generally speaking...you cannont KILL for property. That being the case, and stipulating that even displaying a gun is using deadly force, it is unreasonable to expect a private citizen to interfere in a property crime. The difference would come, if the citizen stumbled across a rape in progress or witnessed an act of first degree murder. THEN, I think, a valid argument can be made for intervening with a firearm.

"Common Sense?" Also known as "Horse Sense" is what keeps horses from betting on people! Sorry, but one man's "common sense" is another man's LUNACY. The law has to be the trump card. Now, I admit...in some cases, the law is bad. Bad law can be modified. STUPID people are forever.