"Get out of my house"

[XMil]

By contrast here's another set of rules (sorry, I had to).

Navy Rules for Gun Fighting

1. Adopt an aggressive offshore posture
2. Send the Marines
3. Drink Coffee

LOL, our plan in the Air Force was similar:

1. Launch the planes.
2. Hide in bunkers.
3. Call the Army.
4. Drink coffee.

 

[RichardR]

As a matter of fact the entire passage above lays out the argument that the courts will not ALWAYS feel that the use of deadly force is reasonable. To continue to say so is just being willfully ignorant.

1.) I never said that deadly force is always reasonable, in fact I specifically said "anyone can come up with dozens of silly, unreasonable scenarios in which deadly force would clearly not be justified" you do remember me saying that don't you?

2.) The statute clearly lays out under what conditions reasonable force, including deadly force may be legally used, you keep trying to argue what the word "reasonable" means - there is simply no point in that since it's a subjective point of view.

a.) For instance what it boils down to was did "the homeowner believed it to be reasonable" it doesn't matter what you or I think is reasonable or unreasonable unless we are sitting on a jury & then we would have to determine whether or not it was "reasonable for the homeowner to reasonably believe" that it was necessary.

 

[greyhound47]

They get two choices, voluntarily prone out or do so secondary to acute lead poisoning. Like E5Ranger, that's on a good day.

I guess not everyone is as rough and ready as you.

 

[revance]

Sorry, I haven't read all 21 pages, but I figured I would put in my $0.02.

First, if I had everyone accounted for upstairs, I wouldn't have gone downstairs. Some people here have stated that its their property and they can check it out if they want, I respect that, however I don't want to give up my tactical advantage at the top of the steps. Nothing downstairs in my house is worth dying for (assuming everyone is accounted for).

Second, once I verified it was a stranger, I would have (or hope I would have) pulled the trigger with no verbal warning. This is where I totally disagree with what the OP did. Sure it worked out THIS time, but it was a poor choice. This situation was the most cut and dry case of self defense possible. If you aren't prepared to pull the trigger in this case, I don't see how you ever will be prepared to do it without hesitation. Hesitation is dangerous. What if this guy had a gun on him? You would have been stuck reacting to his actions and he would have had every tactical advantage. Then there WOULD have been a gunfight and the odds of you and your friends getting shot/killed become much higher.

I'm not saying I wouldn't screw up in the same ways if it happened to me, but criticizing it so we can all learn and HOPEFULLY prevent doing the same is important.

My current plan for home invasion:

Our bedroom door is right next to the top of the steps. My wife and I will each grab our guns, I will go to the bedroom door first and from concealment (peek around door frame) look down the steps to make sure nobody is near them. My wife will then run across to the other bedrooms and verify our children are safe. She will stay with them and call 911 while I camp out at the top of the steps behind concealment. If anyone comes near the bottom of those steps, I am opening fire. We have a rottweiler and an alarm system, I am pretty confident nobody can get in the house and up the stairs before I get there. Plus we have a very tall rather complicated baby gate bolted into the wall at the top of the steps. If they do, that is why we are both armed. At night, we lock the deadbolts and disable the tumblers so even someone with a key can't open them. That means to get in they must break a window or door. Nobody friendly is going to do that.

I am glad everything worked out for the OP and nobody had to die. It just worries me that the intruder was given so much opportunity to harm him. Had his intentions been different, this story would have ended very differently.

 

[amhenry]

The plan that my wife and I put in place is along those same lines. Our apartment isn't very big, but it is a two story, with both bedrooms upstairs. If someone comes in, I'm going to the top of the stairs with my M&P. We call 911 right away, but don't go downstairs. I don't own much worth taking, not even a TV, so they can have what they want down there. However, if an intruder starts up those stairs, he's toast, no verbal warning given.

 

[revance]

The plan that my wife and I put in place is along those same lines. Our apartment isn't very big, but it is a two story, with both bedrooms upstairs. If someone comes in, I'm going to the top of the stairs with my M&P. We call 911 right away, but don't go downstairs. I don't own much worth taking, not even a TV, so they can have what they want down there. However, if an intruder starts up those stairs, he's toast, no verbal warning given.

Even if you DID really feel strongly about giving them a warning of some kind, if you are camped out at the top of the steps, you could probably safely yell down "I am armed, GET THE @(#&! OUT! without losing much advantage other than letting them know someone is in the house (which they probably already know). Of course, that is BEFORE they are at the bottom of the steps. I wouldn't yell down if they are standing right there.