Replies

7-"I'd strongly suggest that the people on the borders in this vigilante mood post signs that say in English and Spanish something along the lines of "DANGER. If you enter past this point without owner's express permission, you are confirming and admitting your intent to kill him."

When I was growning up in the 50's in Florida, this was common practice, and it was called 'posting' your property, against trespassers, who could/would be legally shot. In fact, trespassers were regularly shot, and it kept problems to a minimum, and this was common in much of the south.

I don't what has happened to this practice these days, but I don't see these 'POSTED' signs anymore.

I grew up in Florida, too, and remember the same thing going on even up to the 70s. Here's why you can't shoot them and this idea doesn't necessarily give you the right to--you can't be sure that they actually HAVE or CAN read the signs. But you have warned them as best you know how to and you have set it up to be able to defend yourself. In light of the fact that the 'guides' that move illegals and drugs into the country have shot at Americans on the Americans' own property in Arizona, it is a good idea to do this just to do this to encourage them to stay off of your property.

I'm not saying anyone SHOULD shoot illegals or trespassers. God forbid. You should certainly defend yourself, but holding trespassers at gunpoint is also illegal without a threat to your person. You can't shoot someone just to defend your property--you have to believe your life is in danger, and brandishing a gun at someone without that belief is actually against the law in most places. This is a big part of why you don't hear much about posting and trespassers being shot because they went beyond "NO TRESPASSING" signs any more.

This signage, to me, is a way that a person worried about illegal immigration through their property could help establish that threat--assuming they've posted the signage in a way that any potential trespassers cannot miss. Check out this site for a good synopsis of the general topic and a pretty important case: http://www.newsaic.com/mled.html.