# This is what "Defending your Home" with guns looks like **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872 "2020-11-06T00:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/1 "2020-11-06T00:49:58Z")
> **[Florida Man, Thinking He Hears a Home Intruder, Shoots and Kills His Pregnant...](https://people.com/crime/florida-man-shoots-pregnant-wife-thinking-intruder/)** > > "When you make that decision to pull that trigger, you've got to know what you're shooting at," said the sheriff Man shoots his own 6 month pregnant wife in the head. She got up to use the restroom or get a drink or something; he heard a noise and did the only possible logical thing. What a fucking tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/2 "2020-11-06T01:04:29Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > What a fucking tragedy. What a fucking predictable outcome. The more guns people have, the more often this kind of thing will happen. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/3 "2020-11-06T01:05:33Z")
They were able to save the baby, SO FAR. I sure hope that it really was an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/4 "2020-11-06T01:05:49Z")
Agreed. Some people need to be protected from their own stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/5 "2020-11-06T01:08:22Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I sure hope that it really was an accident. No way it was an accident. Why did he aim for her head? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/6 "2020-11-06T01:31:06Z")
Oscar Pistorius claimed that when he shot his girlfriend he thought she was an intruder. I didn’t buy it then either. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/7 "2020-11-06T02:33:17Z")
True, and why did he feel he needed to have a gun handy? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/8 "2020-11-06T02:42:40Z")
When your penis is a metal tube, you have to be suspicious of whose baby she is carrying. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/9 "2020-11-06T02:52:11Z")
Yeah, this is hard to buy. I’d be really surprised if he didn’t shoot her on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/10 "2020-11-06T03:03:11Z")
Situational Awareness. I try to remember where everyone in my house is. However, I was surprised once when a former four year old came out of a different room. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/11 "2020-11-06T03:03:49Z")
If that’s the case, I just don’t get it. Do these guys really think that killing their wives will give them freedom? Most people wouldn’t consider life in prison more freeing than parenthood. Don’t want marriage and parenthood? Walk away. Get a divorce. But don’t kill them! (I don’t recommend killing yourself first, either.) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/12 "2020-11-06T05:03:42Z")
This is horrific but I am sick of hearing how these incidents are “tragic”. Of course it is tragic, but that doesn’t excuse what happened. There are no winners here. Even if it really was an accident, there should be real punishment and consequences. Guy should go to jail. As a parent, I really feel for his 2 year old. But should he get a pass if you take it on face value this was a) an “accident” and b) he has a 2 year old without a mother? I have an autistic child. There is only one way to guarantee she won’t be a firearm accident victim, and that’s not have a firearm in the home. The sheriff’s message to gun owners: “If you keep a gun within easy access because you think you might need it to protect your home, you have to be extremely careful,” he told WPEC. "When you make that decision to pull that trigger, you’ve got know what you’re shooting at, who you’re shooting at.” ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/13 "2020-11-06T05:28:48Z")
Most burglars are going to get the hell out of your house upon hearing a loud, “HEY! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU???” Some people are just itching for a stand your ground kill. It makes them a badass in their own minds. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/14 "2020-11-06T05:32:28Z")
Like others, I suspect this guy knew exactly who he was shooting and is making up a claim of mistaken self-defense in an attempt to excuse what was an premeditated murder. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/15 "2020-11-06T05:37:24Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Some people need to be protected from their own stupidity. I would have thought it was the dead wife who needed to be protected, not the guy shooting the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/16 "2020-11-06T06:24:38Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > If that’s the case, I just don’t get it. Do these guys really think that killing their wives will give them freedom? Could be a domestic violence situation. Victims are at a significantly higher risk when they are pregnant. In that case her leaving him would not be acceptable, and he would use lethal force to prevent it. It’s completely irrational but so are abusers. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/17 "2020-11-06T06:44:20Z")
I know that, unfortunately. Thankfully, I don’t know it from personal experience. People who own guns because they’re hoping to shoot an intruder are precisely the people who shouldn’t have them. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/18 "2020-11-06T10:09:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > Some people need to be protected from their own stupidity. > > I would have thought it was the dead wife who needed to be protected, not the guy shooting the gun. I was presuming she was also a gun nut but I suppose you are right, it is possible that only her husband was. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/19 "2020-11-06T11:46:24Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Situational Awareness. > > I try to remember where everyone in my house is. > > However, I was surprised once when a former four year old came out of a different room. By talking up your self-confidence and saying things like “situational awareness,” you’re only increasing your chances of making a fatal mistake. Making mistakes is predictable, human, and normal. Having a gun accessible mostly risks making the mistake fatal. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872/20 "2020-11-06T12:02:18Z")
I watch a lot of Dateline. Let’s just say, I won’t be shocked to learn there’s a girlfriend on the side. My dad had a shotgun and the only time I ever saw him take it out of the closet was on my 18th birthday. Some guy had followed my sister and I home from an outing and we could see him out in the backyard stripped down to his underwear. My dad was shaking, he did not want to shoot that boy. He yelled very loudly that he was armed and would shoot if he had to. I can’t imagine just shooting without an attempt to do something else first. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-what-defending-your-home-with-guns-looks-like/924872.md?page=2)