Many states? I thought it was legal in all states if the intruder was in your house. I could see problems in civil court if you shot him in the back while he was on his way out the door or window, but I can only think of trouble in any state if an unregistered gun was used.
Some of the more backward states have enacted laws that the homeowner has a duty to retreat first, meaning that they can only act in self defense if there is no other alternative.
I’d grab my cell phone (I keep it by my bed) and bolt out the door (I have an exterior door in my bedroom). I’m on a corner and can easily get to the street from the back yard without getting near the house. From the well-lit street, I’d call the police and yell to wake my neighbors who are close by, the yards are small. My house is very small, there is nowhere for a burglar to hide; he’d probably bolt and I could get a license plate number and description.
I’m a single female without kids.
Do you have a katana?
I was under the impression that possession of swords is pretty tightly regulated in Japan.
Swords, highly regulated In Japan? I’ve got to see a cite for that.
Ah, you call it ‘backward’, while we call it ‘civilised’.
Here you go.
Hide in the shadows and wait, hoping that he will leave?
Turn on the light, with your gun pointed at him, and yell at him to get the fuck out?
No to both. Given the specifics of your scenario, I would be armed with my revolver, because my shotgun stays downstairs. I would turn on the light with my gun pointed at him, inform him that I have already called 911 (I would have) and that I have no compunction about killing him*, and I would command him to lie down on the floor, face down, hands behind his head and wait for the police.
*Truth be told, I probably could not shoot to kill in that situation. If the perp tried something funny, I would aim for thighs. As soon as I felt the perp was relatively immobilized, I would swtich from my revolver to my shotgun. At that point, if the perp tried something funny, I would start taking out kneecaps.
If you don’t have a gun, what do you do?
Call 911. This would be my first move under any circmstances.
If there is more than one burglar, what do you do?
My revolver holds 5 rounds, and I’m an excellent shot, so I’m good up to that point.
Are you male or female?
Male.
Do you have kids?
None that I know of.
What ever happened to that “civilized” concept of “A man’s home is his castle?”
Retreat, hell. That burglar is on my property, attempting to steal even more of my property. If he acts even slightly aggressively, he dies. Simple as that. Any society that places criminal’s rights above those of the victim can scarcely lay claim to the word “civilized.”
Well said.
I would appear quietly at the top of the stairs, wearimg my grey nehru jacket, petting my white cat.
“Good evening, Mr. Bond, so glad you could join us…”
Then I’d unleash my identically-dressed minions.
I’m with Harmonious Discord. Silently retreat to the back bedroom. Close and lock the door quietly. Hop out the window and run like hell and then call the cops.
I’ve got neither a kid nor a gun. I live by myself and it scares the hell out of me when I hear mysterious noises.
Unfortunately, my first response isn’t to think clearly. Usually, I’m halfway out the door with a baseball bat before I’m half awake. (I must say, around here, it’s not usually human intruders. It’s possums in the chicken house!) I’m sure I would grab something big and threatening and pile into him at full speed…and I am a BIG GIRL. He’s goin’ down. Half an hour later, when the cops arrive and the poor flattened burglar is carried off, my husband will emerge sleepily from the bedroom, mumbling, “Whazzat??” My children will sleep through the whole shebang.
I’m pretty sure I’d level a rugby tackle on the guy. I’ve been known to leap 25 feet in about half a second with about three steps and a dive. I’m a fairly experienced grappler, and can apply a sleeper hold from quite a few positions. Wouldn’t use the gun unless there were more than one, in which case I’m not really sure what I’d do? Hope my roommate was with me. We’re both male, I’m 25.
We don’t have a HDTV. or if the tv we have is hdtv, it was the first one out and meh. It ain’t no flat screen.
The stereo system is 20 years old.
If he reacts violently, I’ll tell him he is welcome to anything in the house on the condition my family are safely outside. blah blah blah… I’m not really attached to the stuff that society says I must be attached to.
Failing that, we throw the cat at him… then I run to the neighbors and grab their rather scary looking pit bull mix who barks like the hounds of hell and just walk in on them and let Beau go…wheeee! . And still throw the cat at them.
I would go through the bookcase and put on my big rubber suit and cape. By the time I get the car warmed up, out of the cave, and back around to the front, he’ll probably be gone.
I am a dead aim with a 2-cup Pyrex.
Male, living with my wife and two kids.
Unfortunately, if he is in the living room or the dining room, there is no way for him to leave without approaching me or my son. Therefore it is necessary to [ul][li]Put on my glasses []Call 911 []Get the shotgun out []Go downstairs []Ensure it is not my son []Then work the pump on the shot gun and point it at center mass []Using the Command Voice, say loudly and clearly “LIE FACE DOWN ON THE FLOOR IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE SHOT.”[/ul]What happens after that is up to him. [/li]
If I have to shoot him, well, I saw something metallic in his hand. Turns out it was one of my knives he grabbed off the counter.
Regards,
Shodan
Male, live alone, no kids. Definitely have a gun (used to carry for work).
I live in a second floor apartment with the bedroom at the extreme end from the front door and no way out save the window. The window is in a straight line - a straight shot - down the hall from the living room. Opening it and trying to remove the screen to exit puts me in danger. Then if I climbed out it, I’d be on the deck, 10 feet off the ground. Hence there is no retreat or ‘hide’.
I walk to where I have a clean shot and say “Hi. Don’t move” with my .357 magnum pointed at the center of mass (torso).
If he runs, he runs and all I do is try to see where he goes.
If he shines his lights in my eyes, he gets a “warning shot” in his torso.
Otherwise, I tell him to lie down on the floor as I call the police.
If there are more than one, I go for the one closest to my room first and expect the other one to run for it.
If I see a gun, I shoot first. I don’t want to, but I have nowhere to go and I am not betting my life on the mercy of a burglar, nor am I going to give him “fair warning” and then stand there having an old-west shoot out in my own fucking living room. You break into my house with a weapon in your hand, I assume you intend to harm me and I defend myself appropriately.