I have nothing but a big wide grin about this!
Man, that kid will never be able to live that down. When/if he goes off to college, he'll get ripped by students and professors alike.
+1 to the old guy. I'm sure he got a good laugh after that.
maybe a course in Big Mac assembly...
Read the story, the thief attacked the old man with a knife. That's undeniable intent to harm.
Too bad it was only 4 1/2 years. He deserved more time. Thank goodness that old man could handle himself that situation could have ended up a lot worse.
Legal to shoot him in most states? Possibly...unless you have a CCW. If you do, you have to prove that the crook was intent upon harming you, that there was a threat.
Read the story, the thief attacked the old man with a knife. That's undeniable intent to harm.
Read the story, the thief attacked the old man with a knife. That's undeniable intent to harm.
Too bad it was only 4 1/2 years. He deserved more time. Thank goodness that old man could handle himself that situation could have ended up a lot worse.
Quite possibly the best story of the week
When/if he goes off to college.....
Statutes vary per state, but self-defense using lethal force is virtually always justified if the person you're using it against endangers your life first, provided you didn't initiate the confrontation. In this case, the guy had a knife, the brandishing of which, alone, might have been sufficient justification for the homeowner to use lethal force. The fact that the perp actually tried to stab the homewoner with it is a slam dunk. Lethal force is totally justified. And it doesn't have to be "equal" force, in the sense that a gun is not "equal" to a knife. It does have to be proportional force, which is to say, the force used must be proportional to the force defended against. But here, proportionality does not refer to the method of the force, but the effect or result of it. In that sense, lethal is lethal. A knife can kill you, same as a gun, so using a gun to defend against a knife is justifiable. Also, a CCW has nothing to do with whether or not lethal force is justifiable in a given situation. You always have to be able to show justification for the use of lethal force..........
Tim's right. Statutes vary per state, but self-defense using lethal force is virtually always justified if the person you're using it against endangers your life first, provided you didn't initiate the confrontation. In this case, the guy had a knife, the brandishing of which, alone, might have been sufficient justification for the homeowner to use lethal force. The fact that the perp actually tried to stab the homewoner with it is a slam dunk. Lethal force is totally justified. And it doesn't have to be "equal" force, in the sense that a gun is not "equal" to a knife. It does have to be proportional force, which is to say, the force used must be proportional to the force defended against. But here, proportionality does not refer to the method of the force, but the effect or result of it. In that sense, lethal is lethal. A knife can kill you, same as a gun, so using a gun to defend against a knife is justifiable. Also, a CCW has nothing to do with whether or not lethal force is justifiable in a given situation. You always have to be able to show justification for the use of lethal force, regardless of whether your weapon is concealed or not. Therefore, having a CCW doesn't really have a bearing on whether or not it is "legal to shoot him in most states." However, if you do conceal a weapon (legally), you have to have sufficient justification just to brandish it, which in many states is a perceived imminent threat of harm to yourself or another by an aggressor. That would apply whether or not you actually discharged it.
Great story, by the way. Thanks for sharing it.
College is a long way off for him, maybe a course in Big Mac assembly...
maybe a course in Big Mac assembly...
That would require work, which apparently he doesn't believe he needs to do if he can just steal the things other people work for....
I heard, not too long ago, that to work and McDonald's one must be in school or pursuing some sort of education, Higher or other. Not sure if this is in the young man's future.
I can assure you that no one at my local McDonald's is pursuing any form of education. Unless of course, they are being educated on how to never get an order right.
Horatio's argument is impassioned, respectful, logical, and probably legally sound....