Wow! Some people take their stuff quite seriously!
I would walk away and buy another CX-5 with the insurance money rather than fall asleep every night wondering if he would have turned his life around and had a wonderful family someday when he was in a better situation. Besides, it's attempted murder (murder if successful) to shoot someone fleeing in your car. Absolutely foolish to risk the Federal Penitentiary when you're not threatened. Things are just things and can be replaced.
However, Mike, in Texas, I do believe that lethal force would be 100% legal in that case. Theft of property while on another's property, I believe, is 100% legit cause for it. I personally agree 100% with this, and would sleep just fine at night. However, you need to check your local laws, or you are 100% correct, you will be going to jail for murder.
Why are we getting into all kinds of hypothetical situations here? The article I posted was pretty clear. The bozo walked away from his car with the engine running and someone jumped in and drove it away while said bozo tried to stop him. That's auto theft, not car jacking. There was no hostage, no baby in a child seat, just auto theft.
I was responding to your response about the poster who said something about being confronted.
Also, that said, doesn't matter in Texas. Legal use of lethal force, if that vehicle were in his driveway. I don't know about "out and about", but in his driveway? Boom boom, world is a better place.
Even a sworn police officer could not use deadly force in such a situation because there is no justification for killing someone over a theft. As we have seen in the news, police officers are now facing criminal charges and prison time for taking peoples life without justification. Even other cops are saying that some cops are stupid and made a horrible and criminal mistake by using deadly force. This isn't the wild west.
turned into an ammosexual thread
I think the problem is with Mazda's programming. If the key FOB is not in the car then the car should turn off once you put your foot on the brake. That is how most of the other cars out there are programmed.
You're wrong.
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/p...cleared-by-grand-jury-in-Pasadena-1587004.php
Mr. Horn walked out of the safety of his house, and made the world a better place, when no threat to his PERSON existed in any arguable sense until he left the security of his home, at which time it was still arguable for sure (shot both of 'em in the back). Cleared.
Just confront the person driving the car away. When they accelerate, you feared. That's what Horn did. He ran out of his house and confronted people stealing his neighbors stuff. They ran. He shot. They could have run toward him. Just like you feared they might run you over. Simple enough. I'm not saying it's worth it, I'm just saying that in Texas it's a go.Ummmm...How can you say littlebear is wrong when the only article you cited as evidence says "Horn's defense hinged on his assertion that he fired out of fear for his life, making the shooting justifiable under Texas law."
Regardless of whether the burglars were shot in the front or back, the legal principle that remains in effect in all 50 States requires a justifiable fear for human safety before using lethal force. Of course it's up to juries to determine whether this threshold is met in any given case but that is the legal standard as provided to the juries as the article you cited proves.
I wouldn't even trust myself with a gun, so even less anyone else... its just to much responsability for an individual, and specially now a days where people are more and more desensitized about violence.
Hell I have to pay for insurance, if someone steals my car, I will get a new one, shooting the robber is too much trouble and I would not get a new car... not worth it.
Where I live, not a lot of people have guns. I don't know if its cultural or what, but its just not something most people think about here as opposed to the states.
I suppose that it must be exponantially scary for people, the more you know other people around you have guns, the more you must feel the "need" to get one also.
there couldn't be a zombie apocalypse in the US because of so many guns. it would probably last one day.
This is turning into a 2nd amendment/political type of debate. I don't want to get into a political debate but suffice it to say that most states would either charge you with a homicide/manslaughter type of charge or at a minimum bring your case up in front of a Grand Jury for indictment. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in prison or spend $300,000 in attorneys fees defending yourself? Which brings up the next point, you WILL GET SUED if you use lethal force by the next of kin of the deceased.
Either way, it's something to think about before fighting and using deadly force to prevent a vehicle theft. It's always better to let them have the vehicle, your insurance company will get you another one. Today's litigious society is something that you don't want to get involved with unless you like losing all your life savings defending yourself with attorney fees.
There are a lot of dynamics involved and ask anyone who has lived through such an ordeal, it's better to walk away.
This post is filled with a LARGE amount of FAIL !
He should have just let his CX 5 go. It's not worth his life.
An armed society is a polite society. I wish every competent person carried a weapon.
I'm not so sure. Canada is not known as an armed society and yet I've generally found them pretty polite. In earlier life, I've trained on/fired a 9mm pistol and SMG; 7.62mm rifle, LMG, and MMG; .50 cal. HMG; 2 in. mortar; fragmentation grenade; 3.5 in. rocket launcher; and tank cannon. I was a second class marksman and taught marksmanship (I suppose proving again that those who can't, teach). Yet I won't have a firearm in my home.There are fewer firearms per capita s in public hands in Canada and few murders per capita. Many here, lacking education in higher math and probability theory, and perhaps mistakenly, see a relationship between these facts.
I travel to Tennessee from time to time, and and during the long drive there will find myself standing behind someone waiting to pay for gas with a pistol on his/her hip - perfectly legal in open carry states. For an outsider this is an uncomfortable moment. As much firearms legislation in the US is state legislation of which the details can vary widely, there is no way for the traveler to know if the person ahead of you has a responsible attitude, has been fully trained on the weapon, and maintained a level of proficiency in it's use - or is simply a looney who has filled out the appropriate forms and had the cash in hand. Don't construe this to mean I believe every firearms owner is a looney. It is just that by looking I just can't tell, and perhaps the vendor can't either.
Full disclosure. My mom moved to Canada with her family when an adolescent. Throughout her life she refused to become a citizen; claiming she would die an American. When she eventually did pass, one of her prized possessions was her American passport. I still have it. I have a brother who has been a 'states resident for decades and voted democrat - well...at least before Obama. Although sometimes uncomfortably surprised by how they react in public retail situiations, I have yet to actually meet an American that I could not like. Finally, the peace (such as it is) that I enjoy is in large part thanks to the American defense umbrella under which I stand.
God bless America. Sorry for the rant, but I'm just sayin'...
Brian