Your opinions on use of Lethal Force

Just interested to see what yall think constitutes using lethal force on someone. I think if someone is trying or has broken into your home whether armed or not I'm shooting to kill. Carjacking..shooting to kill. Someone rapes my mom or little sister, I'm shooting to kill. Let me know what yall think......GH

Hey GreenHead, i agree with you on all counts.

I also agree with you too.Also if anyone harms my kids in any way I will shoot to kill.

If I or my family are in a life threatning situation where the best defense is offense... I am gonna off some one to save my skin. (ie see above examples...)

I beg to difer. To stay safe legally, you can only shoot when the life of yourself or others is threatened. In other words, you can't shoot an unarmed burglar that is not posing a direct threat to you. But you can shoot one that is charging you with a crowbar. If somebody is raping a relative, I would be so p*ssed as to ignore my own advice and shoot them anyway if they didn't get off.

In Texas, and I stress that each states laws are different, you can use lethal force to prevent death or the possibility of death to yourself or others, provided that you have taken all reasonable steps beforehand, such as saying something to the effect that "Take one more step with that crowbar(knife, whatever) and I am going to shoot you". You can also use lethal force to stop rape. You can also use lethal force on a burglar or thief AT NIGHT if he appears to be in a threatening situation. NOT if he is running away. Theory being that AT NIGHT you are unable to discern if he has a weapon. You cannot use lethal force to protect property, assuming there is no associated threat to you or others. That pretty well covers it without me getting out the Concealed Handgun License and double checking myself.

Hey guys, thanks for the posts. I was just getting this started to see where most stand on this particular topic. My interest came from watching a TV interview where a woman is in jail for assualt with a deadly weapon b/c she stabed 2 men who broke into her house during daylight hours to try and finish beating up her son, which they had started earlier in the day. What really ****ed me off was that her son was 12-14 age range, don't remember and they were in 20's. From what I understand she was convicted b/c she stabbed them in back while they were fleeing once they realized she was home. BTW the two guys were NOT prosecuted and are still free, don't that beat all. Just shows you that our system protects the criminal.....GH

Not so many years ago if someone broke into your house usually they just really wanted to take money, jewelry,tv's etc. to fund their drug habbit. If I knew that someone only wanted my TV I would rather give it to him then shoot him. Unfortunatley, now they break in, take your TV and kill you and your family. Based on this I have to be prepared to shoot ANY burglar even if I am not completley sure he is armed. As the old saying goes "I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6". If a burglar breaks into my house while I am away he has hit the mother lode but if I am home he is in deep @#$!. HOSS

I can't speak for Tennessee laws, but I believe it to be a reasonable assumption that if a burglar is in your house, is challenged, or alerted to your presence and does ANYTHING except flee then you can reasonably assume that he intends or has the strong possibility of doing injury to you or yours. Thus the first warning shot is center mass. I don't know what they would do in California or other strange places, but in Texas I am almost certain the DA would not even bring it to a grand jury. Nobody wants to be forced to shoot another human being, but when it comes to my family, I will do whatever it takes to make and keep them safe. BTW this is unrelated, but your absolute first defense against being burgled is a few dollars spent on better locks and door frames. Second is don't display or broad cast to the world that you have firearms in your home. And I could go on but you guys know all this anyway.

Shoot first and don't stop shooting till there all dead. That is where the mother in the above posts made her mistake. Dead bodies make bad witnesses. If someone breaks into my home I will have a pistol in one hand and the phone in the other, as soon as they touch my bedroom door I am putting rounds thru it. DODGE

I think she shouldn't have stabbed the two fleeing guys, but it is all for good, as they probably learned a lesson that they will never forget, one that jail cells with cable tv and internet access could never provide.

I don't know anything about the assault and conviction case posted by Greenhead above except for what he said.But I can tell you this, if 2 20 plus year old men broke into my house with the intention of "beating up" my young teenage son, they won't have to worry about bleeding knife wounds, or anything else in this world. And, given what little I know about it, I find it incredible that a jury convicted her. Legally they may have been correct, but morally they made a serious error IMO. But, it is obvious that the law is not perfect if OJ and Cullen Davis, among many, can still be walking around.

GreenHead, all you said plus this. Pure and simple: If you try to hurt/kill me or mine in or out of home, you die. That said if you are in my home unbidden, I WILL assume you are attempting the above and WILL act swiftly to put things to a rapid and terminal end. To quote another old cliche'"I would rather be bailed out on a weapons charge than have family identify my body"------------------ T LEEAPATHY...Freedoms greatest enemy!

hey GreenHead i agree with you 100% i do not have any sisters but i have some cousins who i am very fond of and if they were raped i would kill the no good sob and anyone who would try and stop me.