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Is it legal to shoot somebody who's stealing your stuff?

S

Smartazz

Diamond Member
Hypothetically speaking would it be legal to shoot somebody if they break into your house in the middle of the night and start stealing your valuables. Lets say that he sees you and knows you are armed? What if he is armed? Thanks for the info.
 
In Minnesota,

No...

The only time it's legal to shoot someone is you believe they are a direct threat to YOUR life... "Your" being the keyword here. If they are a threat to anybody else, you are not legally allowed to shoot them.

The "permit to carry a firearm" allows you to do just that on the streets, otherwise the only other time you can use lethal force is on your property provided the condition above is met.

However, if someone is in your house stealing things. You are basically allowed to fire upon them provided you don't say something to the effect "I didn't see any weapons and when he heard me he was running away." That is indicating they are not a direct threat to your life. So if you just say instead "Someone was in my house, it was not my family. I had no idea if he had a weapon or what his intentions were, I felt my life was in risk, so I defended myself." That would be ok...
 
in AL it is legal to kill a trespasser if he is in your home

but if i remeber correctly, most law says you can kill or serriously injure unles your are in immediate threat of the same condition
 
It is in Texas. You can even shoot him off your property if he is messing with your property. This law came into being around 91/92 and I remember the first test case. A guy awoke to his truck alarm going off in the parking lot of his apartment complex, looked out the window and saw someone rummaging in his truck, and then shot him through the windshield of his truck. No charges were pressed against the shooter because he was within the law and his rights.
 
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: userman
If he inside your house you can kill he bastage. But make sure hes inside 1st.
Click to expand...

or drag him inside afterward! 😉
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We always tell people that they should mop up the front porch before calling 911. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: brandonb
In Minnesota,

No...

The only time it's legal to shoot someone is you believe they are a direct threat to YOUR life... "Your" being the keyword here. If they are a threat to anybody else, you are not legally allowed to shoot them.

The "permit to carry a firearm" allows you to do just that on the streets, otherwise the only other time you can use lethal force is on your property provided the condition above is met.

However, if someone is in your house stealing things. You are basically allowed to fire upon them provided you don't say something to the effect "I didn't see any weapons and when he heard me he was running away." That is indicating they are not a direct threat to your life. So if you just say instead "Someone was in my house, it was not my family. I had no idea if he had a weapon or what his intentions were, I felt my life was in risk, so I defended myself." That would be ok...
Click to expand...

Are you sure it's not as long as someone's life is in immediate danger? You gonna tell me a guy is snatching my kid and I can't shoot him because my life isn't in immediate danger?
 
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
 
If the person is in your home, in order to use lethal force your life of someone elses life must be at risk

In VA
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
Click to expand...

anybody can sue and yes, if you killed a criminal, you can expect a civil lawsuit from the family, no matter how guilty the scumbag was

if you have assets or insurance, they'll sue the crap out of you
 
as others said. it depends on teh local laws.


but if someoen was inside my house yeah they will get shot or a baseball bat upside the head.
 
I dont care about being sued, I have a 7 month old and a wife and a .45....if someone breaks in my child's life is in danger. I will shoot them D E A D
 
If they open fire at you with a gun it's legal in self-defense(obviously i would hope), if they're armed, and had the weapon out, you may get off, other than that it's illegal as far as i know...
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
Click to expand...

anybody can sue and yes, if you killed a criminal, you can expect a civil lawsuit from the family, no matter how guilty the scumbag was

if you have assets or insurance, they'll sue the crap out of you
Click to expand...

How could they possibily win? What else were you supposed to do?
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
Click to expand...

I actually knew someone who was renovating their house, someone broke a window and got inside stepped on a nail sued and won for 30 grand.
 
Originally posted by: wetcat007
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
Click to expand...

I actually knew someone who was renovating their house, someone broke a window and got inside stepped on a nail sued and won for 30 grand.
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WTF? So a complete stranger walks into your house and gets injured and you're responsible? I know that our legal system is fvcked up, but that's ridiculus.
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Originally posted by: FoBoT
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Would they be allowed to sue you if you seriously injured them.
Would their family be allowed to sue you if you killed the trespasser?
Click to expand...

anybody can sue and yes, if you killed a criminal, you can expect a civil lawsuit from the family, no matter how guilty the scumbag was

if you have assets or insurance, they'll sue the crap out of you
Click to expand...

How could they possibily win? What else were you supposed to do?
Click to expand...


see it really comes down to the jury.

i read of one case where a guy broke into a house while the owners were on vacation. the guy grabed a bunch of stuff. went into the garage and closed the door behind him. well the garage door was on a key code so he could not open it. Well the door to the house closed and it was locked. so he was trapped in the garage.

he was there for something a week. he survived on pop and dog food. he sued and won.
 
Originally posted by: wetcat007
If they open fire at you with a gun it's legal in self-defense(obviously i would hope), if they're armed, and had the weapon out, you may get off, other than that it's illegal as far as i know...
Click to expand...

wow where the hell do you live? If I have a gun and they come at me armed or not they are getting shot since they could take my gun and use it against me or my family.
 
Originally posted by: Smartazz
Hypothetically speaking would it be legal to shoot somebody if they break into your house in the middle of the night and start stealing your valuables. Lets say that he sees you and knows you are armed? What if he is armed? Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

Laws vary widely, and implementation varies more. For instance, in this state (WA) you are supposed to be able to use lethal force to stop ANY felony in progress, or to stop a felony you believe is about to occur (and also to protect life of course). In practice however you would never get away with it unless you also proved iminent danger, even though that's not a law on the books.

Many states are adopting more realistic laws that allow you to use lethal force any time your private property is invaded, regardless of other circumstances. Some are also removing the absurd 'requriement to retreat' practices. I'm hopeful that this will soon be national. You can google 'castle doctrine' and 'requriement to retreat' for more info.

From a purely legal standpoint you need to take a class or read a book that specifically deals with your state/county/city. Hopefully it's complete enough to acknowledge the differences between the laws on the books and the precedents which are used as a guide in such cases. From a theoretical standpoint it's better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.
 
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