Yikes

[Sarah]

My friend's sister was at a small house party (15 people) when 2 men came in with guns to rob the place. My friend's sister was shoved into a closet with another girl, as the owner of the house ran to his bedroom, fetched his own gun, and shot the robber right between the eyes. As the other thief began to run away, the owner of the house shot him as well. My friend's sister came out of the closet to find blood and brains everywhere, and when the police arrived, they thanked the owner of the house for "saving 15 people's lives."

Now, am I crazy here or is this slightly wrong? Obviously this was a very, very tragic occurence and I feel horrible for all the people at the party, but I can't believe the owner flat out shot the guy in the head and then shot the other one as he was leaving (aka not going to harm anyone). Goodness.

[Flawless]

Very Interesting. Now, there is no law against defending yourself (even though they prefer you don't kill the assailant) however the guy could face charges if the law out there decides that shooting the guy who was running away wasn't self defense.

[meadow]

there ain't a thing wrong with it! good on that guy for having a way to defend himself and his family! and knowing how to properly use it! it's clearly self-defense in this case.

what would be wrong is imagining all the horrors those men could have done to the people in that house. that would definitely have been a bigger tragedy.

[pilvikki]

2 guys come into a house with guns, even though there are 15 people in there already? that's pretty brazen!

then shot the other one as he was leaving (aka not going to harm anyone)

i hate to disagree, but i think that the other would have come back and shot as many as he could have from an ambush. ok, so it wasn't necessary to kill him, but i really have a hard time drumming up any sympathy for either one.

[mdkilmer]

Somebody comes into a house full of people and robs them at gunpoint. The threat is "do as I tell you or I'll kill you".

I've got no problem at all with both of them being shot, even if one tried to run away when the situation changed. Kudos to the guy who blew 'em both away.

Reminds me of the story of the two guys who put a gun to the head of a guy in a track suit. They made him eat dirt off the ground and lick their shoes, then they walked away laughing.

The assaulted guy waited until they both turned away and then pulled a .357 out of his waistband. He shouted, and when they turned around he fired three times. One of them almost made it to the hospital alive.

The news coverage made a big deal about how he didn't have to shoot them. Really? How about the next guy theyd have pulled this on-- the one who'd have said "No" to their demands. Would they have let him just walk away? Sooner or later they'd have shot somebody, or somebodies.

Take out *ssholes when you've got the chance.

[pilvikki]

what eaxctly do we need them for?

[Flawless]

I have no problem with it either I'm just saying that, as far as I know, if somebody is trying to flee (to the point of having their back turned to you and running out the door) and you shoot them then it is not covered as self-defense.

[meadow]

and that's such crap too in my opinion. that man came into that house with the intent to injure a person. to me, you come into my house? all bets are off and if you come at me like you gonna hurt me? and i get the chance to hurt you right back? i'm gonna do it. period!

when i got attacked in my house and that dude took off running with my dad chasing him...i wish my dad would have had a damn gun! that's the least that f*ck deserved. at least i know they caught him and he died in prison where he belonged. hopefully getting raped every day by an evil man like he deserved.

[AJRC_CS]

I think the main problem here is that peoples opinion of what happened are irrelevant, it's what the law thinks that matters. Yes, by all means shoot the people trying to rob you, the only problem with that is even criminals, no matter how much of a scum bag they are, have rights too.

Take the case of Tony Martin in the UK, a Norfolk farmer who shot dead a 16 year old boy with a shotgun. The 16 year old, Fred Barras, was robbing Martin's home with a 29 year old habitual burglar called Brendon Fearon. Martin's discovered and confronted them both, as they attempted to flee through a window Martin's shot both, Fearon in the leg and Barras in the back. Barras died of his wounds. Martin's, even though he was defending his home from criminals was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. This was later reduced on appeal to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility to a five-year sentence.

Obviously the law is different in different countries, but no matter how much you'd like to just shoot someone, the law can be very fickle, and you go from being a law abiding citizen to being a murderer.