[benfranklin]

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It is hard to know if he should have returned with the gun, or done as you suggest; but if he does as you suggest how is he to know that the burglar would not force his way into the house and attack him? Interior garage doors often have only the flimsiest of locks on them. Maybe the burglar is on meth or crack or something? Maybe he will come through a window? Maybe he will decide he must silence the homeowner before he calls the police? Maytbe he will barge through and attack the homeowner as he is distracted making the 911 call? Who knows?

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The laws vary from state to state, but generally you are entitled to use reasonable force needed to protect yourself as long as you feel a threat of bodily harm or death.

Say that someone threatens you with a knife. If you pull a gun and he drops the knife or turns and walks away, you cannot use any more force, and you cannot go after him. The threat is removed.

If you pull a gun and he still comes at you with the knife, you can shoot him. If he drops the knife and/or falls down, you must stop, you cannot shoot him again. The threat is removed.

If you are in the house and he is not, the threat has been removed. By going back out to the garage, Danny is becoming the aggressor. A jury of bleeding-heart gun-control nuts in a civil suit filed by the shootee could just as easily as not rule that Danny used excess force. And Danny can't use his gun to protect his property from the jury.

Most states do not allow the use of lethal force in the protection of property. As I said, Texas is different and does in certain circumstances. I am not kidding that it is my understanding is that you can shoot someone in defense of your property after dark in Texas, but not during the day.

Laws aside, every self-defense instructor will tell you the same thing. If you are out of danger, stay there. In Danny's case, he is in a more advantageous position in the house with a gun than going out in search of the thief who might be anywhere with any kind of weapon (ax, hammer, etc.) that he picked up in the garage.