Ethical Dilemna?

[sorraia]

This ^. Not necessarily shoot to kill, but shoot to prevent harm to myself and family until police arrived. Knees would be great...

Unfortunately around here that would result in them either shooting back at you, or suing for everything you own.

I didnt think of how laws differ between states so much too. Im not positive on this but i know a guy who moved up here from FL and when he got his gun permit down there the instructor had told him that if someone breaks into your house and you choose to shoot then you better shoot to kill bc otherwise they can sue you and stuff. Not sure exactly how accurate that is but i thought that was interesting too. Someone breaks into your house but if you shoot you could be the one getting in trouble lol.

That's a sad thing isn't it?! That could happen here too. When I got my shotgun, for use IN HOUSE for protection of my child's life (I probably would have never even bought it if I didn't have a child to protect), my grandmother's first response was, "But they can sue you if you use it!" Sad, but true. There have been cases of burglars breaking into homes, getting injured (even through their own fault) and then suing the home owner. There have been cases of people entering fenced yards with a "Beware of Dog" sign, then suing the owner when they get bit, because the sign was "admitting fault" for having an aggressive dog (never mind the fact the person entered the FENCED yard without permission!). I have spoken to law enforcement in my area, and here's the really sad thing I've been told: If anyone ever does break in while you are home (home invasion) and you have to shoot to protect yourself and your family, make sure they are A) Completely inside your home (i.e. not in the exterior doorway), B) Facing you (not feeling), and C) shoot to kill so the only story the police hear is yours.

if someone was leaving my house, probably not. if someone was entering and it was dark, especially if my child was home, i wouldn't hesitate. not many people go breaking into houses at night without some sort of weapon, and i wouldn't risk something happening to my child or me and me not be there to raise my child. if this is the case i would shoot to put down. it's dark, i don't know if the intruder has a gun. if he decided to shoot back, bullets fly through walls, and i wouldn't wanna risk my child getting hit. now if this happens to me before i have kids, and i'm the only one home, i'll probably just walk out and pump the shotgun where he could here it and if he doesn't immediately get out maybe blow a warning shot through the wall. lol after that i have a hard time believing anyone would stay in the house.

My husband and I actually have an "abort word" now for this very reason. We came up with it after talking to others who have been in similar situations as us. If you are in a situation where it is dark, you cannot visually identify the person, and they are coming at you, there may not be time to ask "Who are you?" and get a satisfactory answer. My husband may come home in the middle of the night, sometimes leaves the bedroom at night (he'll get restless legs and leave the room so I can sleep), and after our dealings with the bad neighbors (LONG story), we decided that "abort word" was a good idea.