gun in houses

[debby]

Originally posted by katl8e
Good for you, KrazyKat. I'm glad that I was taught to take care of myself.

Its not just defending myself: my dad made sure that I knew how to change a tire, check the fluids in my vehicle and do minor home repairs.

I did the same things, with my sons AND taught them how to cook, sew on buttons, do laundry and iron a shirt.

These things are, all basic survival skills.

I wish more fathers were like this!! My dad never taught me to do any of these things...because I was female. Now I love my dad dearly...and he was a wonderful man, don't get me wrong...but he was older, almost 48 when I was born and that was 37 years ago...so he was from the old school way of thinking. Females didn't need to know how to do these things. So because of that, I didn't learn anything to do with the car, or tools of any kind....let alone anything with a gun. To this day I would have trouble changing my own tire if I had a flat...and I am embarrassed to admit that...but I do want to learn, I just need to have someone very patient show me how...which lets my hubby out...lol. (he's not very patient with things like that and would think he had better things to do than show me how to change a tire) I think I could do it, if I had to...I know where the jack goes, and that you have to unscrew the nuts on the tire (I think that's what they are...nuts...or bolts....something like that...told you I'm clueless here) So I think I could do it....but I'd rather not find out in an emergency....I need to have someone show me ahead of time. Funny how you never think about these things until it is too late.

I also need to learn to shoot a gun. But who would want to be within a mile of me when I learn that???

I'm really not an idiot or anything...I just never learned how to do these things. I can check my oil....although I have to remember which lid to unscrew...lol.

I plan on having my husband teach Amber how to do all these things when she is older...so she won't be as naive about it as I am.

Sorry to get off the subject here.

 

[katl8e]

My dad (actually, stepfather) is old school, too. He was born in 1927. He doesn't have a problem, with Mom being helpless. He thinks that a man SHOULD take care of his wife. I taught MOM how to pump gas, when she was in her forties!

Being a Marine, though, he respects people who can take care of themselves. Most of the things that he taught me, I asked to learn.

Mom can't cook or sew but he can and so can I. Since Mom's stroke, they HAVE gotten someone to help around the house, one day a week but Howard does most of it, himself. If I didn't work such crazy hours, I'd help more. Sometimes, I feel guilty about not helping them.

 

[yola]

Is it legal in the US for you to shoot an intruder in your house?

We had a case a couple of years ago when a farmer (who had a licence to carry a gun) was repeatedly burgled. His farmhouse was vandalised, he was beaten up and things were stolen.

The guy was a loner - a lttle strange, but not nuts or anything. These kids (late teens) kept on picking on him and picking on him. Eventually he snapped. He lay in wait for them, and when the broke into his house yet again, he shot them. One died and the other (I think) survived. I might be corrected on that though.

This poor guy has now been jailed for manslaughter. Quite a long time too, 5 years or so?

There was a huge outcry for the sentence to be reduced or revoked altogether, but the judge didn't. Now this, in my opinion, is injustice. They said it was premiditated, that he lay in wait for the yobs.

I say, in this instance, he was perfectly justified in doing what he did to defend himself and his property from repeated and deliberate attack.

 

[krazy kat2]

It depends on where in the USA you are. In some states you can't at all, and in others there are guidelines, such as you have to retreat to the farthest corner and have nowhere else to go and no other option but to defend yourself. In NC someone just has to have broken in and threatened you. In almost all cases the shooter is at least taken into custody and questioned to be sure the law has been strictly observed.

 

[katl8e]

In Arizona, if you have the reasonable assumption that you or someone with you is in imminent danger, you can use "deadly force". It is, presumed that an intruder is up to no good and gets what he deserves. You may not use deadly force to protect property, such as someone caught in the act of stealing your car.

Prosecutors have discretion and they know that they'll never get a conviction against someone who shoots an intruder. Why waste taxpayers' money on a guaranteed losing case?

 

[valanhb]

It does vary state to state, but self-defence is legal everywhere. If you feel that your life (or someone else's in the same situation) is being immediately threatened, it is legal but you do have to prove that you were being threatened. Here is Colorado we have the "Make My Day" law (phrase from the Dirty Harry movies

). Basically, if someone breaks into your home, you can shoot them, period. Now, once they leave your home you can't go chasing after them - someone tried that once and it was judged to not be self-defence at that point. I *think* they also passed a "Make My Neighbor's Day" law where you can defend your neighbor's home, too. I know that one was challenged, but I honestly don't remember the outcome.

My Dad was awesome about teaching us girls about everything. He was raised on a farm in rural Nebraska, so you would have thought that he would have had more of an old school way of thinking, but luckily he never did. He never treated us any different because we were his daughters and not sons. We learned to change a tire, check fluids, etc. He and Mom even set up a clinic at the church for anyone who needed to learn about basic car maintenance. It was marketed to teens, but we had quite a few adults - men and women - who had never learned.