Would you kill a man who's robbing you? (long)

[bwana devil]

the local story i know of happened about 12 years ago in austin. woman lived in europe and had a stalker there. she went to grad school at the U of Texas and the guy moved to Austin to follow her. she had a restraining order w/ the austin police against him i believe.

one night she heard something outside her apartment window and she went outside w/ gun in hand to investigate. it was this guy hiding in her bushes. she shot and killed him. she was charged and convicted of the killing. dont remember what degree she was charged w/.

bwana

[J.A.Sucker]

I would not hesitate to protect myself in the situation you describe. My stuff isn't that important, but my life is. The attacker's isn't.

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edit- shoot in the kneecap? yes

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"He shoots him below the waist, he knows the law." - Chappelle's Show

[Skip Brutale]

I would deffinately take my opponent's life.

[ClaytonN]

So, umm, what happened?

So like I said, the guy got probation. I called the cops and reported the incident. They searched his house and found cables for the systems he took, which was enough for the cops to get a warrant for him. And he got probation. I thought that surely he would get some jail time. Armed robbery should warrant some jail time, don't you think? I have no idea what's going on with the guy. I have not seen or heard from him, nor have I seen or heard from my old roommate who was friend's with this guy.

Now if something like this ever happens to me and I do have a gun nearby, I will kill the guy. I'll probably have regrets about it later in life, taking someone's life away isn't a small matter, but at least I'll know that I protected my life.

[Blarg]

Actually it's supposedly pretty common in such cases(Masaad Ayoob, again) to have no regrets if you feel you were doing it in self defense. There are always people that would, but personally I don't think I'm one of them. I'd be mostly really pissed off not at what happened to him, but what happened to me. Going through the courts isn't pretty or cheap.

[Gunny Highway]

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People saying "armed thieves hardly every hurt their victims;" but you don't know if this is one of those times when the thief will attack.

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I think this is a critical factor that I think should have been focused on more. I didn't say anything myself at the time because the abuse was getting too ugly in this thread.


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I know he's capable of stabbing me, I don't know whether he intends to. When your life depends on it, better to react based on your enemies capabilities, than his intentions.

Taking someone else's life should not be taken lightly. For the longest time I have always been a believe in strict gun laws. I thought that only cops should have access to guns. But guns will always be available to the public, whether it be legally or in the black market. But I'm getting off topic. The only scenario in which someone is justified in taking another's life is in self-defense. I think this is obvious. In the situation that I was in I certainly would have been legally clear to kill that guy. Now morally justified? That is a different story. Here I am after the incident still alive. What if that night I pulled a gun out of my pillow and shot the guy in the back as he was loading up my belongings? Was my life in such a danger that pulling the trigger was nessesary? I don't believe so. Someone posted something to the effect of avoiding risks that involve losing your life. That's a very good argument. This guy broke into my house and threatened me with a life. Clearly my chance of surivial was -EV when that happened, and maybe that alone justified taking a life. Some would argue that when he wielded a knife, entered my room, and threatened my life, he then lost his right to live. Perhaps. Again I still struggle with my original question.

[djoyce003]

I keep a loaded .357 in my house for just such occurrences, and yes I'd have no problem shooting him until he was dead, and i'd make damn sure he was. Dead people can't sue you.