These laws are really stupid in some states. I beleive life is more important than property, and shooting someone should be a last resort. On the other hand some states are rediculous. For instance, in New Jersey if you are on the second floor of a building and are face to face with a guy with a gun and you too have a gun, but also have access to flee the apartment through a window you'd better jump before you shoot. You will be tried for manslaughter if you shoot and can flee.
Regardless of the person, or the owner of the property? I dunno...I'm pretty sure my TV is quite a bit more important than quite a few people in Houston. And given our laws, I'll be happy to prove that if one of said people tries to take it. Like the brilliant Walter Sobchak stated so eloquently in The Big Lebowski, "What's mine is mine."
Well in this part of MS, if you break in to a house, you're fair game. The law is the law but the sheriff is the sheriff ( deputies too ) and let's just say I know his stance on this. My sister and brother in law are both prosecuting attourneys in memphis and though i doubt they'd support this, they both know that local law enforcement's take on the crime is crucial. let's just say around these parts they know who is naughty and who is nice. Might not be what everyone calls fair but it works. So the legislation isn't a big deal to us. shoot first ask later. not many home invasions around here. Only two murders a year. You have to go up toward memphis for that. There's more crime on the Ole Miss campus than here in Batesville.
I don't even know what kind of Tv he's got and I think it's worth more than half the people in Houston. I know I've been there! also consider this, you wake up at 4am and the local preacher is standing in your kitchen by mistake? do you shoot him? I might... I mean how the hell do you make that kind of mistake? :dis: Was he stopping by unannounced for a tuna salad sandwich? how'd he get in? did he ring the bell? or is he after the TV? How do the local police KNOW that he wasn't about to grab a kitchen knife and threaten you with it? that's just it, no one knows, only he does.... but he isn't responding to interogation, he wants to play bad boy... shoot the sucker. end of story, life goes on for you and the family, no funerals to attend. a few questions to answer. Grand jury would never indict, even memphis cant seem to get an indictment on a case like this. Guy shot a car jacker as he was leaving the scene, Shelby county tried to prosecute, they couldnt get a jury to indict the man. That's in liberal MEMPHIS. guy got shot in collierville ( just out of memphis ) in a home invasion. ( recently ) The home owner is a local hero. no charges filed. a few months ago there were gangs of youth's knocking on doors in memphis, if they got no answer they busted in. Well one old man didnt answer, the youths were under age, he shot and killed one. yep you guessed it, local hero. Bad youths terroize old man, get what they deserve. Again that is in notoriously liberal shelby county tn. if they cant prosecute there, they dont stand a snowballs chance in hell here.
dead men cant testify in their own behalf. a well placed terrified female and kids and a couple of kitchen knives in the foray can deflate the best prosecutor's wet dreams of making a statement. a grand jury would never even bring back and indictment. this ain't CSI Mississippi bank it. I'm more concerned about the grocery tax/ cigarette tax bill than this. this is a waste of time bill.
You got a point there. If disaster hits, do you see people dragging other people out for medical help? Nope, but alot are seen with their "new" tv. Guess it's their given right.
The law is pretty much the same in s.ms. as up north. What is on the books might be hard to prosecute from the locals. I have always told my wife that if I am not at home and something of this nature occurs, "wound" him right between the eyes with our shotgun. I don't intend to have to live the rest of my life wondering if he is going to get drunk and start thinking about his life....then want to come back to "take revenge" on us for crippling him or something. end of story
In Oklahoma, you have to reasonably feel that your - or your family's - life or safety are being threatened. Then you can use deadly force to protect yourself. But if you are not being threatened, then you cannot. For instance, you cannot chase someone down you caught breaking into your home but then fled, and then shoot them. (Someone about a mile from where I live did that. Not cool.) In Oklahoma, the law is called the "make my day" law.:hihi: (True!)
That's why every family should have a nice, sturdy dolly. Makes wheeling 'em into your house much, much easier.
Anyone desperate enough to enter my home without permission while I am there is considered a potential threat. Even if he/she is running for a door. I do not know that they would not return and gain access again, and the results might not be so favorable for me the second time. I refuse to live my life in fear awaiting for the possible return. I wish I could remember the name of the movie, but some guy who had lost his family laid the culprits' arm across a railroad track and watched as a train severed the limb. He was walking away and the now one armed man yelled "I'll get you if it is the last thing I do!" The fully armed man turned around and said, "You know, I believe you.", and shot him.
