Deadly force is only justifiable if your life or someone else's life is in danger.
say what you will but the Pie man always has good real life stuff to learn from
If you get a gun you better know how the hell to use it. And if you have a wife make sure she can use it. I'm not talking about just make sure it's off safety and pull the trigger either.
I mean proper cleaning and maintenance.
Proper aiming technique.
Shooting practice.
How to handle a jam or misfire.
Know the model of gun, rate of fire and maximum effective range and caliber.
After 4 years in the army and countless years as a country boy I handle weapons very well. That said, if confronted by someone with a gun who didn't know what they are doing I'm more than likely going to take it from them and kill them if I were a violent criminal.
I cannot stress enough. If you get a weapon then take the time to be competent with it.
Terrible tragedy.
RIP
sadly, i get the feeling that if he killed the burglar instead, he'd be
facing homocide charges. damned if you do....
jacktripper...thanks for your support, my friend.
Dreamer420 is correct. The same would hold true for any weapon you carry or plan on using for self defense.
inf0tr8r...from 10 feet away, your best bet would be to escape.
If someone is stupid enough to stick a gun in your ribs or back, it can be taken away, if you know the right technique. It's based upon reaction time.
FCTV808...you can't kill someone for breaking into your car!! Your life must be in danger. You could legally place the person under citizen's arrest and call the police. The wisest choice would probably be to turn around and get out of Dodge as quickly as possible and let the PD handle it. If you can get a good description and possibly a license plate that's great, but I wouldn't risk my life to do that either.
Kill someone for trying to steal your property? If they're stealing, they're scumbags who deserve prison, but an on-the-spot death penalty seems a little harsh for theft. Criminy.
If you hear about a crime like this, put yourself in that situation and think about how you would react. Are you prepared or could you do a couple of things to increase your chances?
I had a burglar break into my home while I was there. Lucky thing was, he didn't have a gun, only some steak knife is his pocket.
I caught him in the middle of ripping out my playstation. I thought it was my wife making a shit load of noise in the dark. I was asleep and wasn't thinking clearly.
I slammed him and choked him out, twice. I restrained him until the police got there. My two children were in their bedroom.
The situation got resloved and everything went as well as possible. That said, I learned so many things that night.
First, if you hear a weird noise IN your home. Get the gun. No questions, no bullshit, grab the 9mm and load it. Second, don't go into the situation sleepily. If you hear a noise, wake the F!@k up!
It CAN happen to you. My wife was tramatized by the incident. We ended up moving from that place because she was too paranoid to live there. The guy got 12 years in prison and I had to testify in front of a grand jury.
All said, I would handle things completly different now. I'm just so lucky and glad that it went down with no one getting killed, including the burgler.
great advice Sam Pai! RIP to the man
TTT
IOGSP eh BJ...good post. It's wise not to have loaded guns around when you have kids. I recommend a quick access safe. It can be opened very quickly, even in the dark. I keep my loaded Baretta 92F in the quick access safe that's on my nightstand.
I once had the macho attitude that would probably have gotten me killed or seriously injured in a recent incident. I was at a downtown club (in an area known for crime) and was on my way back to my car. As I appraoched I saw three men were looking through my car. It was an older car and getting it open without a key was not a problem for anyone with the right tool. My first instinct was to run and confront them but then common sense kicked in. In my car I had nothing but a cheap cd player and about 10-12 cds. Total value of about 100 bucks. I sat back and watched from a distance as they did their thing. They quickly closed my door and were gone down an alley. I went to my car to see they had not even tried to get the cd player out. They took the cds which were all old scratched up pieces of crap that I didnt even listen to anymore and been sitting in my car for 3 years. I would have sold them to anyone for $25 if they had asked. They didnt break a window to get in the car and didnt even leave a scratch from where they used a prybar to get the hook inside the car to grab the lock so they must have even used the plastic piece to stop the paint from being damaged. I couldnt help but laugh at the trouble these guys went through for a bunch of Led Zeppelin cds. I dont think those are worth much to 3 younger black guys and I dount they were jamming to Kashmir later that night.
Imagine the possibilities if I had approached these guys. They might have been armed and scared which is very dangerous and three on one is never good. I could have risked my life and health for what? $25. No thanks. They could have taken the car if they wanted to. I am glad it happened when I was a much smarter 31 year old than when I was a wanna be tough guy 21 year old who would have thought I had no choice but to go after these guys because of foolish pride.
Unless myself or a friend or family member is in danger then I am not risking my life or health for any material object. Bas Rutten gives very good advice on his lethal street fighting dvd. At the very end he talks about being approached while you are at an ATM and asked to give up your money. If you dont feel you are in physical danger and giving the guy the money will end the situation then just give it to him. It might sound cowardly but it is not at all cowardly. As you get older you realize that your life is not always about you. Its about your family and friends that care about you. Keep yourself out of harm's way not just for yourself but for the people that would be crushed if anything happened to you. I dont want to hurt my family and friends because I decided to fight over $200 at an ATM machine. Its not worth it. It might hurt my pride for a minute but the happiness of my loved ones is more important than any amount of money. Just remember that before you make a decision that could jeopardize your life. You arent the one that has to deal with the pain once you are gone. Its very very selfish to risk the happiness of your family in order to satisfy foolish pride. I can assure you that if someone pulls a gun on you and wants your wallet, everyone that cares about you would beg you to give the wallet up.
I had plenty of fights in my younger years and now realize how stupid of a kid I was. Now I only fight if I am positive that I am in imminent danger of being harmed. Or if a friend or family member is in danger I will go to war for them. Other than that I will have no part of any physical confrontations. Nothing comes from them except trips to the hospital (if you are lucky) and a lot of broken hearts if you arent lucky. A real man puts the happiness of his family and friends above everything else. Dont let them down by doing something stupid like getting killed or seriously injured over petty crap. You see things in a whole new light when you consider the impact of your death beyond what it means to you. Its easy to die and I am not afraid of dying but I am terrified of hurting my family that deeply so I can turn the other cheek with confidence knowing I did the right thing.
spk,
i hear you, but i still think it's fucked up that a guy can break onto your property to steal your shit, be armed and kill you, but if you kill him first, you "have passed judgement on him" and will be prosecuted. if you don't want to get killed, don't you think you should stay the hell outta people's property? this world is unjust and punishment is rarely handed out fairly. fc
FCTV808...if somone is armed, you can defend yourself. A lot of it also has to do with knowing the law and being explain what you did and how you had no choice.