Only it isn’t. In his endless quest for righteous shoots, blogger Learn About Guns seizes on a report in the gun rights-rampant Examiner to prove his meta-point: guns git ‘er done.
Police say that a man was returning to his Charlotte, NC home when he noticed a burglar attempting to steal his truck. The homeowner reportedly used the vehicle he was driving to block the driveway, preventing the burglar from getting away, then used a shotgun to hold the burglar until the police arrived. A television, jewelry, and other valuables from the home are said to have been found in the truck. A suspect, reportedly identified as Terrell Webber, was apprehended by police, and is said to have confessed to three other burglaries, according to police. Webber was reportedly charged with four counts of felony breaking and entering, four counts of larceny after breaking and entering, and one count of larceny of a automobile.
LAG reckons the good guys win again.
This is yet another example of a gun being used for self defense – without a single shot being fired. Anti gun statistics don’t count such uses, despite the fact that the vast majority of the 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year don’t result in the gun being fired at all. The fact is that guns stop crime and save lives, often without the need to fire a single shot.
Guns sound pretty handy eh? Hey, I’m convinced. Read my resume.
But I’m not convinced that many—not even most—examples of gun-related encounters are what they seem. Many—if not most—cases of home defense shootings surround drug deals gone bad. Or bad company returning for a free sample. Or a “friend of a friend” looking for something they know that can be turned into a fix/hit/score.
That said, LAG’s anti-media meme is not without merit. What the MSM doesn’t report can hurt us. Responsible gun owners get so little ink that the National Rifle Association has become our officially unofficial spokesman. What if a criminal disappears into the forest and no one sees him?
But the truth about guns is more complex than Learn About Guns would have us believe. Truth be told, there are a lot of bad good guys out there. Gun owners for whom common sense is not so common. Whose grasp of the legalities of lethal force is a thousand times less powerful than their grip on their gun.
In this case, the issue is simple enough: can you use lethal force to protect property? In Texas, yes.
A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect his property to the degree he reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent the other’s imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, theft during the nighttime or criminal mischief during the nighttime, and he reasonably believes that the property cannot be protected by any other means.
In North Carolina, no.
The law does not permit the use of deadly force solely to protect property, or to prevent theft, or to regain stolen property. An owner CANNOT shoot at a thief – before, during, or after a theft. The same rule prohibits deadly force to prevent injury or vandalism to property. A different rule applies if life is imminently threatened at the same time property is taken. Deadly force used to prevent an armed robbery is force used to protect life, not to protect property.
And here’s the thing: even if you could use deadly force to protect your property in North Carolina, it’s not “self-defense.” You are not your stuff. And even if it was legal to use deadly force to protect your property in North Carolina, you’d be dead wrong to do so. Well, you could be.
Is it worth risking your life for a truck, TV and some jewelry? How come you don’t have a Daddy? Daddy got shot trying to stop someone stealin’ his truck. Daddy loved that truck. More than his child, in fact.
It’s things. Call the cops. Stay out of harm’s way. You could be one of those 2.5 million successful defensive gun users. Or you could be part of a smaller data set of dead people; victims who were shot, stabbed or beaten to death by an attacker.
Here’s something you need to learn about guns: don’t fire your weapon at a human being unless that person has put your life or the life of a loved one in imminent danger. Avoid imminent danger.
