Bone, you’ve been doing this for nearly a year now, and I want to thank you. Too often the main media sources available to Jane and John Q. Public convey the crimes and other negative uses of guns, and almost never do they share the safe DGUs with good outcomes for the citizen.
Thank you.
A motivated intruder with a screwdriver can cause some serious injuries. A gun is a good tool to hold such an intruder at a safe distance while the police come. If it were me and there was only one door out of the room, I’d stand at the door while holding the intruder, not leaving them any reasonable escape.
Can you hold someone prisoner until the police arrive?
Technically, if he turns away and you shoot him, you are shooting someone running away, and here that is illegal.
Good question, and I’m not sure. It probably differs from state to state. But he’s caught committing a crime so I would want to hold him (or her).
That’s why I think I’d be standing at the door, so I’m blocking the only escape. If he approaches me, I might (might) have reasonable fear of serious harm. Not that I want to shoot him, that’s not it. It’s because I’d want to detain him, so that when the police arrive, he’d be there for his arrest.
If there’s no exit from the location other than through you, how can that be running away? Could it not easily be construed as preparing to do you harm?
The Prosecuting Attorney is going to say that he was trying to run away, and that I was not in danger.
If there is no way out, why shoot him? Should shoot them first time they are facing you. You have your weapon out so time for talking and holding for the police is over. Gun out = kill time. If not kill time, no weapon needs to be in your hand. Or pointed at anyone yet at least.
All 50 states will have some form of citizen’s arrest, but the fact pattern is critical.
In general, it would be permissible to use reasonable force to detain someone that is in process of committing a burglary in your home. Even in your state of AR, it is not technically illegal to shoot someone that is running away. There is no law that makes that action a crime. What would be a crime is if there was clear and convincing evidence that such action was not necessary for self defense. AR has § 5-2-620:
So there exists a presumption that any action to defend yourself in your home is lawful in AR. It can be overcome with evidence, but a DA can not simply assert that you were not in danger.
In CA, it’s a bit different but not so much. Anyone who forcibly enters a home unlawfully is presumed to cause fear of great bodily harm justifying deadly force. Outside the home not so much. If you go to your driveway and find a person breaking into your car, there’s not much you can do to legally stop them from peacefully exiting the scene. Shooting that person would be a no no. In TX, at night, it would be fine.
But in the home, I doubt I’m going to attempt to detain anyone. It’s not like I have restraints available for that purpose.
Thanks, Bone.
I’m sure most of you have heard something about the Minnisota Mall Attack (Autoplay video) and all of the mainstream reports that the attacker was shot by an off duty police officer.
What annoys me is that none of them point out that he was out of his jurisdiction and was legally only an armed citizen in a gun-free zone. The closest I’ve seen to that admission is describing him as “an off-duty police officer from nearby Avon”
Still a win for the good guys though.
In other news, Off-duty security guard shoots at robbery suspects
DGU with no deaths. 4v1 and the one prevailed. Another situation where a determined defender was able to regain the upperhand even after being attacked first.
For what purpose Do you have restraints in your home? Inquiring minds want to know…
According to a recent study, the percentage of Americans who own guns has dropped from 25 percent to 22 percent since 1994. That’s the good news. This is in spite of the fact that there are 70 million more guns in America now than in 1994. The apparent disconnect is explained by the fact that fully one half of all the guns in America are owned by 3% of the American adults, the so-called super owners who own dozens of firearms each.
If they go postal, they can’t shoot them all at once, and if they collect guns like I can collect satellite receivers, there are a lot of guns in safe hands.
I own multiple guns that have been in the family for years (some for at least a century), and have only purchased a grand total of two guns in my life - and one of those was a gift to my dad. None of them have ever been used in a crime, or in violence against another person. Me owning them still scares the shit out of some people enough to label me a “super-owner”.
First off, why is that good news?
There seems to be a fair amount of uncertainty regarding gun ownership. Part of it stems from the fact that, in most states (thankfully), there is no requirement to register guns or gun ownership. So, figures are often obtained from phone interviews. And many people are likely hesitant to answer truthfully, either way, whether they own a gun or have guns in their household. I would suspect even fewer would honestly answer how many they have and what types.
I chuckled where the linked article defines “super-owners” as owning at least eight guns. Shoot, 8 guns doesn’t even show you’re out of the neophyte stage, let alone a “super-owner”.
Thank you for the link. I enjoyed the article; it was slanted against guns and gun owners, but not as much as one would expect in a UK article about a Harvard study.
Not all superheros wear capes 
From the description of the study from The Trace (Bloomberg):
No chance of underreporting there, nope. Not a bit. I’ll wait for the full report to see the methodology. Past examples have been quite poor at this and given the source I’d reserve judgment. I do know one thing, if someone is asking me about my guns, I’m going to lie to them. I do not own any capes.
It’s good news because fewer Americans are buying into the narrative of fear that only they can defend themselves from rampant crime, and only guns can provide that security.
Yep. I’m either going to lie, or not answer. There is zero chance I’m telling the truth. I almost never participate in surveys, and even when I do, I often don’t answer honestly. I figure they are getting their money’s worth.
You think that’s the only reason people buy and own guns?
And funny, I feel safest (and am safest) in communities with the highest legal gun ownership.