# Woman Shoots Intruder With Gun Her Son Gave Her A Week Ago **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141 "2015-02-20T00:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/21 "2015-02-21T01:18:42Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That is only true if the burglar was actually intent on killing her. I think burglars really want stuff rather than blood, hence the stealing bit. A friend of mine was killed by a burglar. The burglar picked up a set of tools, and when my friend went into the room to see what the noise was, the burglar stabbed him to death. No offense against you, but it pisses me off when people make it out that all you need to do is leave burglars alone and they’ll just take your stuff and leave. They are criminals. You don’t know what they are going to do. They may run, or they may kill you. The burglar didn’t go to my friend’s house looking for blood. He did not intend to kill my friend. He was just there to steal something so he could go buy some crack. If my friend had been armed at the time, then the burglar would be dead and everyone could bitch and moan about how he was just a poor burglar and he was only there to steal. But my friend wasn’t armed, so now he’s dead. All for 50 bucks worth of tools. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/22 "2015-02-21T03:59:07Z")
I have nothing against guns, but I’m not so sure I want to live in a neighborhood of pistol packing elderly people. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/23 "2015-02-21T04:08:32Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I have nothing against guns, but I’m not so sure I want to live in a neighborhood of pistol packing elderly people. “Say, is that a pistol in your pocket or are you happy to see me?” “It’s my morphine pump. Get off my lawn!” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/24 "2015-02-21T04:08:53Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I have nothing against guns, but I’m not so sure I want to live in a neighborhood of pistol packing elderly people. Kids would stay off their lawn, and the neighborhood would be quiet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/25 "2015-02-21T05:19:53Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That is only true if the burglar was actually intent on killing her. Or, if the burglar felt that she had forced him into having to kill her as a witness. Or, kept him from stealing whatever he wanted. Or, if he just decided to slap her around to make sure that she kept her mouth shut, both during and after the robbery, and she didn’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/26 "2015-02-21T05:27:40Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But to say that if she didn’t have a gun she _probably_ would have died is a gross exaggeration of the actual risk. Nope. You can’t say what he would have done, as his frustration/anxiety/adrenaline levels may have skyrocketed. Without a weapon, her recourse would have been to submit or scream. What would that have done? I don’t think that we have any numbers on burglars who get into a home immediately after being disappointed in the manner that he was, so, we really have no idea if it was a gross exaggeration or a precisely accurate observation. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/27 "2015-02-21T05:28:47Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > I have nothing against guns, but I’m not so sure I want to live in a neighborhood of pistol packing elderly people. I would be tickled pink, were I to live in such a neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2015, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141/28 "2015-02-21T08:20:13Z")
Someone who breaks in at 5 am has a reasonable expectation that people are home, and thus fits the definition of home invasion more than than the broad burglary, which can include casing the place and waiting for the resident to leave for work (or “housebreaking” in some places). Couldn’t have been too bright if he raised an alarm within a stones throw right before! If someone is breaking into my house, I don’t give a shit about what their intent was. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Interestingly, the .22 is third lowest in incapacitation but the 2[sup]nd[/sup] highest (of handgun rounds) in terms of fatality ([link](http://gunstuff-jd.blogspot.com/2013/03/but-22-has-killed.html)). Quantity. Although nowadays .22 can barely be found at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-shoots-intruder-with-gun-her-son-gave-her-a-week-ago/713141.md?page=1)