If someone breaks into your house in the night...

[CrackRabbit]

True, but morality isn't a question of will you get arrested or not.

Point taken.

The way I look at it is this; if they are willing to break in to your residence while you are there they are very likely to not care about harming you to get what they want.
I'll be happy to return the favor to them.

 

[mvbighead]

If they are threatening in any manner, yes. If they are just trying to steal stuff, you keep them at bay with your weapon until the police arrive.


It's not morally right to kill someone over stealing a TV. It is morally right to protect yourself or your family.

If they enter your home, they are threatening the safety of your family. Period.

That's like trying to argue whether a drunk driver intended to cause harm. He/she may not intend to cause harm, but their present situation, as viewed by the general public, is seen as a danger to others. A robber entering your home is no different. The only logical assumption is that the robber has no care about your well being, or your family's well being.

In that respect, if you don't want to get killed, don't break into another person's place of safety. You are a threat, and may be dealt with as such.

Do I want to kill an intruder in my home? Nope. But first and foremost I don't want an intruder in my home. If you invade my home, I will kill you to protect my pet goldfish if I were to have one. I can only assume that you are not in my home with good intentions.

 

[bignateyk]

Only if you feel your life is in danger and it's your only option. I'm not surprised the ATOT brain trust has no concern about that

Why is it my job to evaluate the intentions of someone who has already demonstrated they are capable of breaking the law by breaking into my house?

Don't want to get shot? Don't break into my house.

 

[slayer202]

Why is it my job to evaluate the intentions of someone who has already demonstrated they are capable of breaking the law by breaking into my house?

Don't want to get shot? Don't break into my house.

I don't expect you to understand.

 

[lokiju]

 

[vi edit]

Another thing to take into consideration is that we all live in very different environments. If I lived in an apartment that had a lot of younger tenants the chances of some drunk guy trying to get into my appartment are *much* higher than where I'm at now. I live 20 miles outside of any major city/town out in the country. If somebody is need of help there's a big glowing doorbell button at the front they can push.

If somebody is breaking into my house in the middle of the night where I am it's not for any good reason.

 

[AFurryReptile]

If it's dark and I can't see you, I'm probably going to shoot to kill.

If I can see that you aren't an immediate threat, I'm shooting to incapacitate.

Either way, somebody's getting shot.

 

[Juddog]

Cypress hill said it best:

http://youtu.be/d12EI3xNiqE

Here's an example, just a little sample
How I could just kill a man
One time tried to come in my home
Take my chrome, I said, "Yo, it's on
Take cover, son, or you're assed out"
How do you like my chrome
Didn't have to blast him, but I did anyway
That young punk had to pay
So I just killed a man

 

[Raduque]

Here we go again...

 

[boomhower]

No one is doing me or my family harm. The state gives me the right to defend my family and myself and I will do so. There's three cars in the driveways, it's obvious someone is at home. State law says it's assumed your there to do physical harm, I assume the same thing.

 

[Cookie]

Do you have the moral right to kill them in your opinion?

I'm curious Hal, have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night faced with this dilemma? Or do you base your opinion on what you THINK you would feel if someone broke into your house?


I've never owned a gun, but I'll never forget my immediate reaction to looking out my roommates bedroom window at two guys standing there trying to pry it open with a crowbar. It was knowing without a doubt if I'd had a gun I would have used it right then and there. Call it immoral if you want, but I'd sooner kill than be killed or raped.

Lucky for them I didn't own a gun, and lucky for me 911 had the police (with their own guns drawn and ready) at my house within 2 minutes. (They were half a block away still filling out paperwork from when I'd called 30 min before to report suspicious strangers lurking around the back yard.)

 

[LTC8K6]

Taking the question as given, yes I have a right and a duty to plug them a few times.

Someone who, in the USA, would break into my house at night when it's obvious that I am at home, is a very dangerous person.

I can't take the time or the chance to figure out exactly why he has broken in. It's too big a risk.

Trying to hold a dangerous intruder at bay until the police arrive is another big risk.

Scaring him off just allows him to try again later, maybe with disastrous results for one of my neighbors.

If we alter the question to it being a drunk at the wrong house, etc., etc., not a dangerous criminal, then things can change.

 

[slayer202]

Does anyone who answered yes, NOT believe in the death penalty? I think that's a more interesting question

 

[JulesMaximus]

Do you have the moral right to kill them in your opinion?

Here in America you have a moral obligation to kill them. It is part of the religion of gun ownership.

 

[soulcougher73]

If he is being immoral by breaking into my house than i can do the moral thing and end his immoral life

 

[SlitheryDee]

Not only am I morally allowed to kill them; I am morally obligated to kill them. Society needs me to do that.

 

[pontifex]

Do you have the moral right to kill them in your opinion?

you live in the UK, the only right you have is to help them steal your stuff, rape your wife, and kill you.

 

[slightlyhuman]

what the fuck are you going to kill them with HAL? your bare hands? your cat(only pussy you get) or a, GASP, WEAPON?


thread is gay.

 

[Jeffg010]

I have posted this before state of PA you one dead mother fucker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_doctrine
Pennsylvania On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, Pennsylvania (PA) Governor Tom Corbitt (R) signed a bill extending that state's traditional castle doctrine protections to assaults outside the home. The new legislation passed both houses with overwhelming support and expands the state’s castle doctrine and stand-your-ground protections to allow the right to use a gun or other deadly force in self-defense in situations outside a person’s home or business.[30] It applies when "deadly force is immediately necessary to protect [...] against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat".[31]

It explicitly denies a duty to retreat and provides legislative protection from civil actions resulting from the use of deadly force in acts of self-defense. The PA General Assembly found that:

(1) It is proper for law-abiding people to protect themselves, their families and others from intruders and attackers without fear of prosecution or civil action for acting in defense of themselves and others.

(2) The Castle Doctrine is a common law doctrine of ancient origins which declares that a home is a person's castle.

(3) Section 21 of Article I of the Constitution of Pennsylvania guarantees that the "right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."

(4) Persons residing in or visiting this Commonwealth have a right to expect to remain unmolested within their homes or vehicles.

(5) No person should be required to surrender his or her personal safety to a criminal, nor should a person be required to needlessly retreat in the face of intrusion or attack outside the person's home or vehicle.[31]
While the findings specifically mention a defendant's home or vehicle, the amendments to state code enumerated by this legislation extend to any place that a person has a legal right to be, with a few notable exceptions (such as inside a prison).

 

[Juddog]

The moral of this story is that the police won't always be there on time to help you. So sometimes you just have to fend for yourself. That's just the way of the world.

 

[Possessed Freak]

I will write them a stern letter, mail it in triplicate with the appropriate stamps to stop them from entering my house.

No, no I won't. I have a handgun and know how to use it.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Morally, yes, I believe I have the right to kill someone who is trespassing in my home. I don't know what their intention is, but they are in a position to kill or rape me or my loved ones, and that's a clear case of me or them. I don't think I'd actually use lethal force, but if I did, I wouldn't feel as though I'd violated my code of ethics.

 

[KeithTalent]

No.

KT

 

[dabuddha]

Who would say no???

 

[mrCide]

Break into my house and you will have a 9mm magazine emptied into your chest.