home invasion thwarted by armed citizen.

What happened in Texas ,where the guy shot the guys who were robbing the house next door,blew them away on his front lawn ,as they were running away?

When you have a gun pointed at someone's head, and this person is not pointing a weapon at you, how is he threatening ? Why can't you just shout "Hands on your head, drop to the floor" ? Why shoot him ? And the vast majority of robberies are perpetrated for cash, not to rape and kill. Citizens with no training cannot appoint themselves officers of the law. Had this break-in victim been a policeman on service, he would have been charged for abusive use of his weapon.

Originally posted by Soloman Kane
What happened in Texas ,where the guy shot the guys who were robbing the house next door,blew them away on his front lawn ,as they were running away?

he was aquitted.

Originally posted by Ismail
When you have a gun pointed at someone's head, and this person is not pointing a weapon at you, how is he threatening ? Why can't you just shout "Hands on your head, drop to the floor" ? Why shoot him ? And the vast majority of robberies are perpetrated for cash, not to rape and kill. Citizens with no training cannot appoint themselves officers of the law. Had this break-in victim been a policeman on service, he would have been charged for abusive use of his weapon.

Should he have waited for them to pull a gun? How was he to know if they had a gun or what they were capable of. I do understand where you are coming from and I respect your point of view. You respect life and that is never a bad thing. I am glad that the home owner did not end up as another statistic, I would rather the criminal go down however if picking between the two.
And maybe other criminals that hear of this will think twice before doing the same.

Originally posted by Ismail
Well I do find it kind of weird how some americans think it's ok to kill a guy for trying to steal their TV... It's kind of frightening because it shows how much some of you value life. (I.E. less that a TV, whats that, 100 $ for a good one ? )

If someone breaks into my home at 3AM, I'm not going to ask him why he's there. I'm going to do what's in the best interests of myself and my family first.

Here's a simple rule: if you don't want to be shot, don't break into someone else's home. Its not that difficult to understand.

Originally posted by turbokid
haha it seems his current security system is working well.
shootingreaction1212.html

haha this guys security is the piece in his hand
screw you brinks

Originally posted by ANNED
Another one bites the dust.

You alway wonder how many lives these armed citizens save by shorting the criminal lives of these lowlife scum.

Times a gun has been used defence since Jan 2008:

2,602,323

www.pulpless.com...

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That is an alarming number my friend.
I would not have guessed that high at all.
In only a single year.... self defense is the new black??

Okay...Here is my problem. I understand the obvious desire to own a gun for self delfense and efense of loved ones.

..but statistics show that a gun is 2.5 times more likely to accidentally kill someone innocent, most often a family member than a be used for lawful defense....33 times more likely to use that gun in an unlawful homicide than lawful etc..

One child is killed by a gun about every 3 hours in the USA.

Everyone says well that is "not me"...I am safe and smart with my guns..but then it happens to them.

* I get both sides of the issue....but would have much more respect for the right to bear arms crowd if they were more vocal about stricter saftey and sales laws.

The NRA sucks. They should be front and center pushing for tighter restrictions on gun safety and careless and illegal gun sales. They should be taking the position...we have the right to bear arms AND let's support any laws furthering gun safety as well as any laws keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and children.

Instead the NRAs stance pushes back hard on any laws what-so-ever reducing the availability of guns or safety measures like requiring trigger locks.

library.med.utah.edu...
In the U.S. for 2001, there were 29,573 deaths from firearms, distributed as follows by mode of death:
Suicide 16,869;
Homicide 11,348;
Accident 802;
Legal Intervention 323;
Undetermined 231.(CDC, 2004)

www.neahin.org...
Children and Gun Violence
In a single year, 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire in the United States.
That is one child every three hours;

every year, at least 4 to 5 times as many kids and teens suffer from non-fatal firearm injuries.

America and Gun Violence
American children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any other industrialized nation.

In one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States. (Centers for Disease Control)

Guns in the Wrong Hands
Faulty records enable terrorists, illegal aliens and criminals to purchase guns. Over a two and a half-year period, at least 9,976 convicted felons and other illegal buyers in 46 states obtained guns because of inadequate records. (Broken Records, Americans for Gun Safety Foundation)

reply to post by Allegory of Illumination


It's a problem with reporting I think. Some nut shoots two people Podunk, West Virginia and it's national news. Some guy walking down Main Street Anytown pulls his gun and sends a mugger fleeing it's local news at best.

If you make it a habit of reading Operation Self-Defence daily you'll see reports from all over the country of people defending their lives and property with guns.

Operation Self-Defense

Just here the other day we had a bank robber chased down by four or five contractors. They tackled him and when he went for a weapon one of them presented a hammer and threatened to use it. If that robber had shot the "good samaritans" it would have been national news. Since he was captured without incident nobody cares.

He was up here from Mass by the way. I wish NH would put a big sign up at the border telling Mass to keep their trash on their own side.

reply to post by maybereal11


One every 3 hours? So in three hours time how many kids are not killed?

I grew up with a gun in the house. Most of my friends did. We were all shooting by age 8.

So some kids die. Well, an awful lot of people die in car wrecks. I'm not going to stop driving.

This "think of the children" crap is just that, crap. It clouds the reality with cheap emotion and petty sentiment.

We batter start banning pools. Way more kids drown in pools every year than are "accidentally" shot. I wouldnt let my kid go to a friends house if they had a pool that's for sure.

Wait, more than half of those deaths are suicides? Well what the hell is that worth? Like there isnt a length of rope in the garage, pills in the medicine cabinet or laces on their shoes?




[edit on 26-1-2009 by thisguyrighthere]

This is why I love Arizona (which I am currently a resident of).

If this happened in New York (my former state of residence), you would have 5 lawyers defending the criminal, suing the homeowner, the gun manufacturer, and the ammunition manufacturer.

I am proud to live in a state that recognizes my common sense right to defend myself and my property - in other words, Arizona upholds the Constitution of the United States.

" And the vast majority of robberies are perpetrated for cash, not to rape and kill."

Your cash and your belongings are like pieces of your being! It took your time, your life, your energy and your effort to collect those belongings. This makes them more than just things.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


I had no idea that the numbers were so high! Thanks for the link to the gun defense clock, great information.

Thank God for Ohio's Castle Doctrine Laws! Now I don't have to sit there and waste valuable time trying to figure out why someone happens to be in my house, uninvited, at 4AM. I can simply "remedy" the problem once and for all.

No longer do innocent homeowners have to be afraid of responding to criminal threats; instead the criminals have to be afraid of the homeowners - as it should be!

reply to post by maybereal11


The suicide number is skewing the statistics. For the year 2005, there were 3,027 people aged 0-19 killed with firearms. That does include suicide. Toss those, and the number drops considerably: 1,993.

That's 1,993 murders in that age range for a total population of 81,700,000 people in that age bracket. That's not really that bad, considering the gang warfare problem in our streets. By contrast, there were 7,204 people aged 0-19 killed in auto accidents the same year. Another 1,200 drowned.

And here's a really shocking stat from the CDC: 20,426 people in the United States were killed by falling in 2005, and over 19,000 of those were accidental. That includes all ages, mind you.

The CDC has a great website for all of this information here.

The point is, its largely a result of two things: One, a MUCH larger population than Canada or France (the numbers are not directly comparable) and second, rampant criminal and gang activity in our inner cities. We do have a problem, yes, but its not evenly distributed across the country, which suggests that firearms aren't the problem, but the locals in possession of them. In most areas, people have proven they can own them responsibly.


[edit on 26-1-2009 by vor78]

Originally posted by Ismail
Well I do find it kind of weird how some americans think it's ok to kill a guy for trying to steal their TV... It's kind of frightening because it shows how much some of you value life. (I.E. less that a TV, whats that, 100 $ for a good one ? )

I value life more than you can imagine.
But please believe that if I find my self in my own home, and someone is literally KICKING down the front door (and is not a cop) they will not be welcomed kindly.
What if the guy breaking in was whacked outta his mind on PCP?? = Me dead.
If someone is breaking into a home, they probably aren't going to be nice about it if confronted by the owner of the property (who probably won't be happy them self [just assuming])

This guy in the news was LUCKY enough to not got hurt by the intruders.

I treat every single person I meet with the utmost respect and kindness.
But it's a little different when your life could possibly be threatened??
(Ever heard of NFL football player Sean Taylor???) Nuff' said
What if I had a wife and kids to take care of?? I wouldn't even think twice about protecting them first and then myself after. No hesitation.

It' has NOTHING to do with saving a TV and lacking the value of life..... What if they came in and stole his money out of his dresser/safe?? Is it different then??

So what would you have done?? Walked into the room as the burglars are lifting your TV to walk away with.... "Excuse me guys? What do you seem to think you are doing with my property? Will you kindly please put it down??"

It's called split second judgement that could have an impact on your life...
it's not about materialism, or possessions.

Now please.... why attack and say Americans don't value life and would rather take a life then allow someone to pry our precious TV's from our cold dead hands.
Very intelligent post you brought to the table, thank you for such good input.

Sad, pretty narrow outlook on the situation. The frightening thing is you think that you value life more than others.

P.S. How DARE you disrespect us "Greedy/Materialistic" Amerikens.....
100$ for a good TV?? It aint Ameriken and it aint good till you spend +2k $$$
If you are going to talk some junk, at least do us some justice.

reply to post by WhamBamTYM


Allow me to state that I do not consider what I own to be more important than another human's life. Be he a criminal.

reply to post by Reaper106


As I said. A police officer does have to make sure the suspect is carrying a gun before he shoots. You don't take the law into your own hands, or kill another human being based on suspicion. Full stop.

[edit on 26-1-2009 by Ismail]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Agreed. Most of those being killed are not really 'children', they're in their late teens. Looking at that CDC site I linked above, 3,027 people aged 0-19 were killed with a firearm in 2005. Change the age range to 0-16, and that falls all the way to 991. Toss out suicides and it drops all the way to 593 for the 0-16 bracket, vs 1,993 if the range is 0-19.

How many of the remaining 1,400 were gang bangers and thugs? A good portion, I would imagine, and it wasn't so much the gun that killed them, but their lifestyle.

The point is, the 'think of the children' rhetoric is indeed a play on emotion and does not really represent reality.