Defending Yourself.

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17 hours ago, Annie Bynnol said:

Merging the stories of Old West and the Homestead Act have indeed created a very powerful  myth, but I suppose all countries have a need to create their equivalent of the Round Table.

True enough.

 

When you work hard, and spend blood and treasure to build something, like a democracy or a religious theocracy, or a communist distatorship, it becomes part of the psyche, and those people will fight to maintain it.

 

But people who get stuff for free, tend to undervalue it. Vandalism and graffiti, in and around welfare subsidized housing, for example.

 

I just got back to Toronto for some medical stuff, and in a few short months I've noticed a shift in the homeless population. The younger panhandlers are less in evidence, and the obviously mentally challenged are now in the majority.

 

It may have something to do with the 27 formerly nice hotels that are being used to house them. But you wouldn't want to live with all the drug use and violence they promote.

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20 hours ago, echo beach said:

As I understand it the law says that the best form of defence is to step away or run if necessary.

There's often more than one intruder and what's the point of being a dead hero. If you do use force it has to be proportionate to the situation.

 

We had an incident last year in the next village to ours where a gang of 3 criminals broke into a house in the middle of the night and threatened the husband who was at the top of the stairs to hand over the keys to his new expensive high-powered car. He did the sensible thing, told them where the keys were, rang the police and got his family out of an upstairs window onto a flat roof.

The thieves made off with the car but were apprehended before they could disappear into the ether.

I'm pleased that my 11 year old jalopy on the drive is probably at the bottom of the criminals' list of desirable motors.

 

As for adopting a gun culture like they have in the States, no way. There would be no more 'Avon calling' ladies left to ring my bell and supply my wife's cosmetics!

 

echo.

In real life, how does somebody determine what is "proportional" if you wake up in the middle of the night and find a masked criminal home invader (burglar is a nicer term usually referring to a person who breaks into empty buildings when nobody is around). hovering in the dark over your bed or that of your children?

 

Is he a killer? a rapist? The lives of you and your family could be extinguished in seconds.

 

This guy means business, and evil business at that. A gun is your only hope.

 

Crime is what happens to other poor sods.

 

Until it doesn't:

 

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass says she doesn't feel safe in city after burglary

 

Two men allegedly broke into Rep. Karen Bass' home and stole two guns, causing the mayoral hopeful to admit her 'safety was shattered'

 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-mayoral-candidate-rep-karen-bass-says-she-doesnt-feel-safe-city-after-burglary

 

Our enlightened gun control advocate, (for the little people) is a shoo in for the job as the next L.A. Mayor. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna B]

I doubt you would ponder it much. You would automatically do what you required as necessary in the circumstances. 

Personally I would regard a BB gun as more of a deterrent that a lethal weapon, but might go for the balls rather than the face... however who knows?

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20 hours ago, dan_999uk said:

The usual paranoid derangement and mythology surrounding this topic.

 

You can use reasonable force to defend yourself, your family and your property, to prevent a crime and to lawfully detain an offender. You don't have to judge "to a nicety" what is proportionate in the heat of the moment. Criminals have no more rights than you do. 

 

The tiny handful of homeowners who have been prosecuted have used grossly disproportionate force, like beating unconscious criminals with cricket bats as they lie on the floor, or lying in wait in a darkened farmhouse before shooting someone in the back with an illegal firearm as they try to escape, before leaving them to die as they cry for their mum. 

 

The media love to give you half the story to portray the homeowner as a persecuted victim.

 

CPS Guidance

Government advice

Criminals and scofflaws, are a cancer on a society.

 

The only "rights" they should have, is the right to a trial, when caught.

 

(If they are lucky enough to survive!  )