Yeah I heard of a case like that in Alabama I think. Guy went to the wrong house drunk and couldn’t get in. Was pounding on the door because he had a roommate that he thought was their. The older woman that lived in the house when he finally managed to shimmy the lock shot and killed him when before he could get the door open all the way.
I have sympathy for both parties in those situations. The people that made the mistake but also the people that have to live with taking their life.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
My cousin’s best friend was recently shot and killed by a homeowner (with 2 young kids) because he mistakenly broke into* the wrong house when drunk. Sucks for all involved but I can’t really fault the homeowner.
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- went to the front door, tried his keys, they obviously didn’t work, went around back and had his buddies boost him through a window[/quote]
This is awful, just awful. Getting behind the wheel isn’t the only danger when drinking (assuming to excess if you can’t recognize your own home.)
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
My cousin’s best friend was recently shot and killed by a homeowner (with 2 young kids) because he mistakenly broke into* the wrong house when drunk. Sucks for all involved but I can’t really fault the homeowner.
-
- went to the front door, tried his keys, they obviously didn’t work, went around back and had his buddies boost him through a window[/quote]
This is awful, just awful. Getting behind the wheel isn’t the only danger when drinking (assuming to excess if you can’t recognize your own home.)[/quote]
I was in NYC for my best friend’s wedding, and I was so fucked up after the reception that I tried to go in the wrong hotel room. My key obviously wouldn’t work, so I started banging on the door and yelling for my wife (who had gone to bed earlier) to let me in.
Then I hear this woman let out the most blood-curdling scream I’ve ever heard in my life. I got really confused, then angry because (I thought) my wife was screaming at me. So I banged on the door harder.
That’s when my wife burst out of the next room and started REALLY screaming at me. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. I tried apologizing to the lady through the door but she wouldn’t stop screaming LOL. I felt so bad. I tried to find her the next day to apologize but she checked out before I got up.
If that had been a hotel in Texas I might be dead now. That is the last time I’ll ever be that drunk again.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
My cousin’s best friend was recently shot and killed by a homeowner (with 2 young kids) because he mistakenly broke into* the wrong house when drunk. Sucks for all involved but I can’t really fault the homeowner.
-
- went to the front door, tried his keys, they obviously didn’t work, went around back and had his buddies boost him through a window[/quote]
This is awful, just awful. Getting behind the wheel isn’t the only danger when drinking (assuming to excess if you can’t recognize your own home.)[/quote]
I was in NYC for my best friend’s wedding, and I was so fucked up after the reception that I tried to go in the wrong hotel room. My key obviously wouldn’t work, so I started banging on the door and yelling for my wife (who had gone to bed earlier) to let me in.
Then I hear this woman let out the most blood-curdling scream I’ve ever heard in my life. I got really confused, then angry because (I thought) my wife was screaming at me. So I banged on the door harder.
That’s when my wife burst out of the next room and started REALLY screaming at me. I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. I tried apologizing to the lady through the door but she wouldn’t stop screaming LOL. I felt so bad. I tried to find her the next day to apologize but she checked out before I got up.
If that had been a hotel in Texas I might be dead now. That is the last time I’ll ever be that drunk again.[/quote]
I get so confused in hotels that I might have done that sober.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]Aggv wrote:
[quote]four60 wrote:
All states should have some form of the Castle laws, the sad truth is many do not think a persons home should be a safe haven.
[/quote]
this many times over. However our benevolent political leaders think it’s in the best interest for us that people should get shot/stabbed in the back by an intruder as apposed to just taking them out, and getting one more scumbag off the planet. [/quote]
I think the logic behind the measure is basically to get people to be damn well sure they are shooting a bad guy and not your teenage daughter who is sneeking in the window after being out partying, or Sally housewife still a bit tipsy from the bottle of Pinot she drank opening up on her Hubby who was digging around for some 2am left overs…
Some bleeding hearts have empathy for the intruders, “BUt what if they are just taking your TV and don’t mean you any harm, they shouldn’t lose their life for that”. TO which my answer is they picked the wrong TV. If they didn’t want to get shot, they shoudl get a job and buy a TV just lke I did. [/quote]
The thing is that it is easy to type that but a different thing to live it. I am all for having the right to stay and fight if your kids and/or wife are present but when all is said and done you have to live with what you do regardless of what the law says. So if you shoot someone in the back (killing him) as he is running out of your house with your TV you have to live with knowing that you put your TV above a human life. People have killed for reasons that any sane person would find justifiable and still have had trouble coping with it.
And if the moral consequences are not enough then there is always the common sense side of things. It’s easy to say you would grab your gun and confront an intruder when the smart thing to do is escape (provided that is an option) or stay where you are and wait for the cops (who should have been called). It doesn’t sound macho enough for this board to say it but why open up the whole legal can of worms that will result from shooting someone? Why risk confronting someone when there is always the possibility it could end up badly for you and then, who will protect your family? My position on guns is that they should not change your behavior. That is, don’t do something with a gun you wouldn’t do if you didn’t have one. It really needs to be the last resort. Then again I was an MP so I was taught the doctrine of use of force. Deadly force is not the first option. When it comes to home defense, or defense in general, prevention and survival should be considered first.
A dog is always a good choice because you might not always be home to protect your family. It’s a great deterrent and alarm system. It also doesn’t need light to get the target and doesn’t miss. It will also buy you time to take whatever steps are appropriate under the circumstances.
I tried to buy a gun when I lived in NJ. It made CT’s laws seem lax. In CT I could walk in and out with a shotgun the same day but in NJ it was like applying for a job with the FBI. I’m one of those people who don’t think legal gun ownership should be too easy but at the same time I don’t think it should be impossible. When someone was shot right outside of my home, meaning a few feet (he dropped his gun in my driveway), in the middle of the afternoon while I was home I thought, “what if the shooter had thought I was a witness and decided to enter my house and shoot me?” I don’t think my door would have stopped him. So although I might sound anti-gun I do actually sympathize because I understand reality. I know that a gun is no gaurantee but the feeling of helplessness I had when living there was unlike anything I felt prior.
[quote]zecarlo wrote:
So if you shoot someone in the back (killing him) as he is running out of your house with your TV you have to live with knowing that you put your TV above a human life. People have killed for reasons that any sane person would find justifiable and still have had trouble coping with it.
[/quote]
Just to be clear, I see no need to use deadly force if the intruder is already half way gone and didn’t harm anyone.
I’d rather not have to shoot anyone, ever. My statement was in line with a situation where I have to make a judgment call because I don’t know his or her intentions. I know their intentions if they are hauling ass with my TV half way out the door.
Although my house is set up where that wouldn’t be an issue. No one is getting shot until they come up the stairs, at which point I’d be trapped and have reasonable suspicion they are there to rape and pillage, not just boost my shitty TV.
I’ve been around enough criminal minded people to know I have no place hunting them down in my house. I’ll stay at the top of the stairs and waste anyone that hits the landing. If all they want is the TV, they won’t be in any danger.
I can’t escape from the second floor. I have no options except let my rape my family… That shit isn’t going to happen, gun or not.
And I’m sure my wife can call the cops while I unlock the safe.
And I’ve been around enough criminal minded people to know, you don’t pull a B&E when people are home to steal a TV. Home invasions are on a whole different level.
There will likely be more than one as well, and they more likely than not have cased you and know your habits. (Which lights are off when, when people go to bed, etc.)
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]zecarlo wrote:
So if you shoot someone in the back (killing him) as he is running out of your house with your TV you have to live with knowing that you put your TV above a human life. People have killed for reasons that any sane person would find justifiable and still have had trouble coping with it.
[/quote]
Just to be clear, I see no need to use deadly force if the intruder is already half way gone and didn’t harm anyone.
I’d rather not have to shoot anyone, ever. My statement was in line with a situation where I have to make a judgment call because I don’t know his or her intentions. I know their intentions if they are hauling ass with my TV half way out the door.
Although my house is set up where that wouldn’t be an issue. No one is getting shot until they come up the stairs, at which point I’d be trapped and have reasonable suspicion they are there to rape and pillage, not just boost my shitty TV.
I’ve been around enough criminal minded people to know I have no place hunting them down in my house. I’ll stay at the top of the stairs and waste anyone that hits the landing. If all they want is the TV, they won’t be in any danger.
I can’t escape from the second floor. I have no options except let my rape my family… That shit isn’t going to happen, gun or not.
And I’m sure my wife can call the cops while I unlock the safe.
[/quote]
Why don’t you have an escape plan? Not saying you should run from an intruder but what about fire?
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
Not saying you should run from an intruder but what about fire?
[/quote]
It is unlikely I wouldn’t be able to use the stairs to escape from a fire, but if I had to, I have a way out. I’m not jumping off a roof with an 18 month old unless there is zero other option, you know what I mean?
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?[/quote]
I stand outside our bedroom doors with my weapon, at the top of the stairs. Depending on what I hear then will prompt what I do.
My house is small enough where from there I’m hearing most things, and my floors creek like crazy, so I’ll know if they are coming up stairs rather quickly.
The problem is that people breaking into your house dont exactly announce their intentions.
“Yeah HI, i’m a meth head and just want to take you TV and bluray player, ya’ll can go back to sleep i’ll be out in a second, k thanks”
It doesnt exactly work like that, and in no way would i ever want to kill someone, but i feel it’s our right to be able to protect ourselves with lethal force if necessary. Like a couple of above posters said, dont go out of your way to find the person in your home, but post up in a good ambushing spot with your family behind you and pray the scumbag in your house doesnt come too close.
[quote]triple-10sets wrote:
Here is what I ended up going with:[/quote]
That escalated quite quickly.
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?[/quote]
I check it out, but if my dogs not going nuts it is probably one of my teenagers.
fwiw I have always had guns and believe in protecting your home, but have removed all my guns for the next couple years. Where I live there is a MUCH higher probability of one of my kids dying by one of my guns than by home invasion.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?[/quote]
I check it out, but if my dogs not going nuts it is probably one of my teenagers.
fwiw I have always had guns and believe in protecting your home, but have removed all my guns for the next couple years. Where I live there is a MUCH higher probability of one of my kids dying by one of my guns than by home invasion.[/quote]
Why not just a safe in your closet or something?
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?[/quote]
I get the Glock by the bed, she gets the shotgun in the closet, we pull up myADT.com app with my iPhone or iPad, look at the diagram of my house for any motion and/or the cameras, then decide from there.
It’s a 10 detector system and 10 camera (5 in, 5 out). I think I spent $7.5K on it, coupled with the glass break and permiter stuff.
Great for when away on trips. I can pull up the cameras anywhere in the world.
So far, all we’ve used it for is checking on the maid and asking a neighbor to get a package UPS left on the door.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
I read all of you guys saying you wouldn’t go hunt the bad guys down in your house, but what if you or your wife hear a noise in the middle of the night and don’t know what it is? Do you go check it out or automatically call the cops? Do you take your weapon with you?[/quote]
I check it out, but if my dogs not going nuts it is probably one of my teenagers.
fwiw I have always had guns and believe in protecting your home, but have removed all my guns for the next couple years. Where I live there is a MUCH higher probability of one of my kids dying by one of my guns than by home invasion.[/quote]
Why not just a safe in your closet or something?[/quote]
My wife asked me to remove them, so for her peace of mind I did. If you look at the stats for home invasions in my area, almost zero happen when someone is home.
I have a safe, there is no such thing as something a kid can’t access if they are determined. IMO a gun in a safe is almost as useless as no gun at all. I may reintroduce my .22 revolver and a fingerprint safe but that is not much of a deterrent. The only other handgun I have is a contender single shot.