Need opinion on shooting somebody

[Bruce Urie]

I have been thinking after reading about King Kong's theft of his beautiful Turbo Regal...I didn't want to hyjack his thread as he's really going through a tough time, I'm sure we all would if this happened to us, but:

Do we, as legal gun owners, have the right to SHOOT a thief if we caught him in the act of breaking into our car?

Would we have that right if we saw them hooking it up to a tow truck?

How about could we shoot them as they are driving off with our car?

What about in the middle of the night? Could I shoot the SOB if I caught him stealing my GN, Vette, etc, on my property?

How about if the car was in the garage and it was just me and a theif? Could I shoot him?

I've been thinking about this for a long time, but always get mixed answers. I guess I need to go talk to my buddies down at the local police department, and probably will.

But, what are your opinions here on the above questions? Give me some insight here. Am I nuts for even thinking along these lines? Dad had his GN stolen once, I got revenge, but not with a gun. I've had the expensive wheels stolen off of my '68 Firebird 400, (back in '70) and they were coming for the second time when I was chaining up the wheels late at night...I scared them off but got their plate number....found out where they lived, my Dad then had their car set on fire (with my stolen wheels on them) but that was fine with me.

What would YOU do if you were carrying and caught someone stealing your beloved Turbo Buick...or any of your cars for that matter? I want to hear your opinions before I go talk to the police about my rights here in Virginia on protecting my property.


Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[BandAid]

I always carry an extra unregistered gun with the numbr filed off,place that in the hand of the thief...

 

[YouLikeThat]

In most states you would be locked up for shooting someone over property( I think Texas that might be legal).

I do agree that we don't need people like the ones you describe in this world and I'm on your side, but I personally would never shoot someone unless it was a last resort to save my live or someone else. Hell my car is insured for 32k, come and take it:biggrin: (easy to say now. I know I would loose it if someone stole what I've worked so hard on for 10 years)

 

[Dabigguy]

Well, since you live in VA, you have a little more leeway on shooting someone....but not much more.

If you shoot someone, you go to jail...period !!! You may get out in a few days, even if you do, you're in for a long and expensive legal battle. You gun will be confiscated and probably won't get it back. If you do not kill the bad guy, you may have to support them for life. Unfortunately, the bad guys have more rights that we do.

All in all, it's better to have your car heavily insured.

 

[six is enough]

In Texas deadly force is justified after dark if you are protecting your property and you believe it is the only way to stop the thief.

 

[WeSS]

Criminal Justice System

It's just that. Justice for the criminal. Not the victim. Should be the criminal punishment system. I would get a copy of your states laws in regards to what is legal and not. I would take the precautions of insuring and storing in a manner that could keep the possessions out of potential thieves eyes.

Judgement is needed when it comes to weapons. A buddy of mine is permitted carries daily. In 20 years has never pointed his gun at anyone nor has he taken the safety off. However, he has had to use it to discourage a criminal from crossing that line of getting shot. One particular night he was on his way home late. Called me to discuss weekend plans. After leaving work he was getting off of an exit ramp. 3 guys in a van were trying to persuade him to pull over. He assumed they wanted to rob him but kept driving. Speeds then slowed when he came to a red light which might have been their cue to attack. He pulled the handgun out and laid it on the passenger seat pulled out of the holster with the safety still on but one in the pipe. Turned the dome light on. The thug in the passenger seat must have noticed when he glanced over coming to the light because the window went up and they drove off. I'm sure 15 rounds would have given the trio a bad day had they attempted an advance. It was a deterrent but again he used judgement.

Pulling the weapon out and filling their van full of holes would have undoubtedly resulted in him going to jail facing numerous charges. Kind of have to assess the threat and use common sense. Life threatening events justifies using lethal force. Property can be looked at as not justified in killing someone especially when you're not in it. Lets say your car is sitting in your yard and you see someone trying to steal it then just unload a magazine on them. A different story if you're driving the car and some a$$hole tried to snatch you out of it with deadly force then you would be justified in defending yourself. That is if you are permitted. At least that is the case here in the ****ty state of Florida.

 

[SFITurbo]

They can have mine, insured for more than they are worth in todays market. Move to Florida...Castle doctrine extends to your automobile

 

["Turbo-T"]

If you caught someone stealing your car, why not shoot the tires on the car?

 

[chopped39]

Dispose of the body properly. I might have unloaded 150 frozen paintballs on a couple of punks tring to break into my garage They never came back:biggrin: A good axe handle works real nice too. Drag the meatstick in the house and then shoot them. Even if your outside,Tell the cops they attacked you and you had to kill them:biggrin: If someone is tring to steal something I paid for they are done. Its my word against a dead guys.The unregistered gun in their hand is a nice touch.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

MO has the castle doctrine as well.... but all shootings still must be justified... if you are fear for you life or someone elses, and the criminal is advancing towards you, i would say yes.... i wouldnt go shooting someone in the back, that is just asking for a lengthy prison sentence.... oh and yeah if you are shooting at someone you MUST KILL THEM.... so if you cannot handle that... you may not want to own a gun... they arent toys for wounding... .... two to the dome, one to the chest

 

[WeSS]

laws on guns

MO has the castle doctrine as well.... but all shootings still must be justified... if you are fear for you life or someone elses, and the criminal is advancing towards you, i would say yes.... i wouldnt go shooting someone in the back, that is just asking for a lengthy prison sentence.... oh and yeah if you are shooting at someone you MUST KILL THEM.... so if you cannot handle that... you may not want to own a gun... they arent toys for wounding... .... two to the dome, one to the chest

Keep in mind some states have vigilante laws. It's one thing to shoot to kill as in not shooting in the leg to maim as in shooting two shots to the head and one to the chest however prosecuting attorneys have been known to go after a victim for what is known as the Paul Kersey law. They want just enough force to stop the threat but not overkill. Read up on it.

 

[WeSS]

laws

They can have mine, insured for more than they are worth in todays market. Move to Florida...Castle doctrine extends to your automobile

That is a good thing

If you caught someone stealing your car, why not shoot the tires on the car?

What did the tires do to you? LOL Seriously you may not think so but doing so can result in a ricochet hitting an innocent bystander. Opening up a whole new can of worms.

Dispose of the body properly. I might have unloaded 150 frozen paintballs on a couple of punks tring to break into my garage They never came back:biggrin: A good axe handle works real nice too. Drag the meatstick in the house and then shoot them. Even if your outside,Tell the cops they attacked you and you had to kill them:biggrin: If someone is tring to steal something I paid for they are done. Its my word against a dead guys.The unregistered gun in their hand is a nice touch.

Easy to say but keep in mind in our society people in the system are odd individuals. They will spend our tax money endlessly to defend total scum and will equally spend our tax money to prosecute us. Think about what you're saying. Tampering with a crime scene, lying to a LEO, illegally modifying a weapon, etc. Not a smart decision imo. However, I agree with the ax handle and the paint ball gun or even a real firearm if used in a proper manner. I personally would use judgement and not just go dirty hairy on anyone over property unless it was threatening my life.

 

[rmar]

In Illinois if you catch some one stealing your ride they want you to give them your keys, wallet, say you are sorry for interrupting their felony.
Cause if you shoot them you are probably going to jail. friggen Chicago politics
blows. They don't even want you to be able to own a gun. Sh*t needs to change. But some of us don't roll that away......

 

[WeSS]

guns

In Illinois if you catch some one stealing your ride they want you to give them your keys, wallet, say you are sorry for interrupting their felony.
Cause if you shoot them you are probably going to jail. friggen Chicago politics
blows. They don't even want you to be able to own a gun. Sh*t needs to change. But some of us don't roll that away......

Thats because you live in Obama Bin Laden land. Can't even send your kid to school with a bag lunch or get in trouble. WTF?

 

[rmar]

Thats because you live in Obama Bin Laden land. Can't even send your kid to school with a bag lunch or get in trouble. WTF?

No sh*t, We in Southern Il, are trying to annex from the rest of the state......:biggrin: The most corrupt,stupidest leaders on the planet.

 

[GNBRETT]

Short answer is NO. Crimes against property are not threats against ur life or a 3rd party's life. Big difference Bruce.

I know Texas has some very liberal laws but even there you would run into problems shooting someone over a property crime.

Bruce you would be in a world of chit if you shot someone over a property crime unless of course you urself were in the car at the time which of course makes it a car jacking which obviously changes everything.

of course if u confronted a car thief in ur home it would be his word against urs as to the particulars of what went down. if he just ran away and u shot him ud run into problems but burglars are usually armed and as long as he did in fact have a weapon and threatened the use of a weapon ud be fine using deadly force. as the saying goes..... dead men tell no lies.

its a real tough question to answer cause if u did in fact confront someone its likely they may not be able to escape and therefore the thief would have to use force against you to escape. when someone uses force when committing a larceny it now becomes robbery. robbery is a larceny by force. anytime u are being robbed (big difference then being burglarized) you have the right to protect urself from being harmed. they do not have to be armed to do so. that is what is referred to as a strong arm robbery. again, there are many different scenarios Bruce that could result so its kind of a loaded question. HTH

shooting the tow truck operator....NO

shooting them as they drive off....NO

 

[rmar]

So if you shoot that MF'er in the driveway, drag his ass to your door...:biggrin:

 

[bogies87]

GNBRETT pretty much summed it up. In a very short answer if you caught them stealing your car then the answer is NO you can not throw lead at them. It does not matter how you look at it on the force continuum deadly force is the absolute last resort in any state.

 

[coach]

If you caught someone stealing your car, why not shoot the tires on the car?

Cause there brand new MT ET Streets...LOL. The best chance you have is to tell the police that it looked like he had a gun or other weapon on him, and was ready to take it by force. Also you can kill him if it is a carjacking, and never do a day in jail. I personally would do the little time just for the satisfaction that the thief is now "visiting Osama". Wouldnt bother me at all. My friend has a saying..." Better to be judged by 12, then carried by 6." I believe that. People are tired of the bad guys getting away with everything and would never find a first time offender guilty for protecting his property.

:biggrin:

 

[Bigthainitty]

No can do sir, that's what we call murder in California in a perfect world though.....