Only in America

[pErvinalia]

It's obviously not innocent, but shooting them dead seems a bit of an extreme reaction.

[Forty Two]

Indeed. But, as I said, Texas is a bit atypical in having this kind of statute, limited as it is. I am comfortable, however, with the castle rule. You come into my house at night. I'm going put a bat upside your head, and ask questions later. The car is insured.

...I'm against the death penalty, so I'm not particularly keen on deadly force overall. But, I understand that there are situations where people do not have time to wait for police.

That's part of the Texas policy, too. Everything really is big in Texas and in many areas, people live in sprawling, extended properties. Law enforcement has to be in some sense self-help.

[pErvinalia]

I actually have no problem with the idea of shooting someone who has broken into your house (when you were in there first). In the US, where there's a reasonable chance the person is armed with a gun, I'd do it without hesitation*. In Australia, where there's almost no chance the person has a gun, I'd threaten to shoot them if they didn't leave straight away. I'd only shoot them if they advanced on me or pulled some sort of weapon.

* Actually, I would likely warn them too, but be very very ready to pull the trigger.

[JimC]

Wouldn't you be able to shoot at someone who is stealing your car off your driveway in states like Texas?

In a limited set of circumstances, yes, but Texas is rather atypical in this regard. Using your example, if the theif is engaged in this theft at nighttime, and you own the property, and you would be justified in using any non-deadly force at the time, and you reasonably believe the deadly force is necessary to prevent the nighttime theft, or to stop a person who is immediately fleeing the scene, and the property cannot be protected by any other reasonable means, or the use of force other than deadly force would expose you to a risk of death or serious bodily injury.

They have a statute on the topic.

Not a big fan of it, but if a criminal is out there burgling at night, then I think it might not be a bad thing to put him at risk. What possible innocent motive can someone have for going onto someone else's property at night and either burgling their house, or stealing cars?

Sure, but there's no death penalty for stealing a car. "put him at risk" seems like a euphemism for state sanctioned murder...

I accept that an armed attempted car-jacking is a different matter, but that Texas statute seems like an excuse for a homeowner to be judge, jury and executioner...

[Sean Hayden]

A burglar potentially steals a lot more than your property. The damages can range from loss of property, to losing your peace of mind for years, to death. It's a very serious crime. That sounds obvious, but it's easy to lose site of it when someone's been hurt or killed while attempting a burglary.

Anyway, as a kid in Texas I remember my dad always just grabbed a bat at the bump in the night. My mom'd probably just shoot you dead...

[JimC]

A burglar potentially steals a lot more than your property. The damages can range from loss of property, to losing your peace of mind for years, to death. It's a very serious crime. That sounds obvious, but it's easy to lose site of it when someone's been hurt or killed while attempting a burglary.

Anyway, as a kid in Texas I remember my dad always just grabbed a bat at the bump in the night. My mom'd probably just shoot you dead...

There's a difference between an armed burglar entering a house and potentially or actually offering violence (in Oz, that's called aggravated burglary) and, say, stealing a car from a driveway...

[Sean Hayden]

Oh yeah, you're sick to shoot someone stealing your car off your driveway.

Unless of course you're having a hell of a difficult time. I mean losing transportation at the wrong time could seriously fuck things up...

[JimC]

I think we've found the Oz/US divide...

[pErvinalia]

If I could, I would have machine guns mounted to the outside of my trailer. Any 70 year old biddies that approach would eat lead!

[Scot Dutchy]

I think we've found the Oz/US divide...

Here the police tell you to get out of your house if you can and phone them. Hurting a burglar is not a good idea.

[Sean Hayden]

Every burglar's precious, and no matter the potential consequences for your own life their wellbeing must be a priority.

[laklak]

My mom'd probably just shoot you dead...

Mrs. Lak would shoot you and spend the rest of your life telling you why and how you fucked up.

[Tero]

Finnish guns are for target practice and shooting animals. Illegal to shoot at burglar. Or serial killer.

[Sean Hayden]

Serial killers are especially precious.

[Scot Dutchy]

They just happen to be human beings which I know in America does not mean much but it is just the way we are.