Poll: Would you shoot to retrieve property

[Tic Tac]

If you loose in court then you go to jail and loose everything you have
home cars family all gone it is not worth the risk. Even if you win in court
the financial loss would be extreme

With that in mind, why would anybody risk all that for some stranger who doesn't care enough about their own life to spend less than 1% the price of an average car to get their own CHL?

[cb1000rider]

I have no idea... But some do. And I imagine those that are protected are thankful for it.
Then again, some will shoot a thief over a 6-pack of beer...

[DEB]

What does "to retrieve property" mean? Would I drive over to the thief's house and shoot while trying to recover my stolen property? No, most likely not. But depending on what the item is, I would definitely shoot to keep it from being taken off of my property.

As someone else has pointed out, the cost of defending yourself in a shooting is very hight. I likely wouldn't shoot someone for stealing my television, although I would definitely draw down on him and try to intimidate him into abandoning the effort. I have good homeowner's insurance. But if the property was irreplaceable and literally priceless..... well, I own a few things that cannot be ever duplicated and which it is almost impossible to attach a value to—including one item of which there are only known to be 6 of them still existent in the world, and 5 of those are in museums, the 6th is in my living room, and it is a family heirloom. I would shoot to stop a thief from leaving my property with that item in his possession (which would be difficult for him because it literally weighs several hundred pounds).

But would I shoot to stop someone from leaving my home with cash or jewelry? Probably not. Like I said above, I might try to force him at gunpoint to abandon the effort, but if he kept on running and exited my property, I'd give a good description to the cops and let them do their jobs.

As always TAM, you have the best answers. I own family heirlooms worth less that $100, but I would do all I could to protect these items. Emotionally I believe everything I own is worth more than a Thief's life. Logically it will depend on the circumstances. While stationed in Northern Virginia, I saw people enter a store, take something and nonchalantly just walk out. If I was a store owner that would anger me immensely, so I do understand someone shooting an individual for stealing a 6 pack or whatever of beer; especially if I was depending on selling items to make a living. I don't know how insurance works for these small time quick stops. If someone robs you, does the insurance make it up? If it does, is it like car insurance where your rates will go up? This to me is like someone coming to my home, walking inside and stealing my T.V. and then just walking out, without any concerns about my feelings over the matter. Where does the, "it is just property", motto end? Some folks I have read about have publicly stated that they would not even protect their wife from rape, as it is not a Capital Crime. So, I guess it is an individual thing. My ability to accept financial loss is probably a lot different than Donald Trump or even many of you all. So $100 might mean a lot more to me than to you. Shooting one of my Brother's Bull Calves, would really affect his ability to have some financial stability, while maybe to a City person, it was just a Calf at 75 cents a pound and not worth protecting, after all the Cow could just make another one.

[SewTexas]

about 6 years ago, when we lived in CO, on Easter day, our home was broken into. my daughter's laptop was stolen, several of her stories were never able to be retrieved, others she had emailed to friends so she was able to get them back. All of my jewelry, except what I had on, including Over 30 years worth of a James Avery collection, I didn't have one cross left, nor a garnet (not cool for this January baby). They took most of my husbands rim fire guns, but not any of his others, and not his laptop. we were able to trace their footsteps by what they took and didn't take.

so would I have shot them? then, gladly....would I still? I'm not sure.

[cheezit]

are we talking my dog or my car? inside my house or outside?

ill gladly let the car go, the dog not so much

[Ameer]

Maybe not but I would cut off their hand.

[JP171]

you removed the yes without compunction answer, but yes I would shoot someone that was stealing my property the value has no bearing on it, oh and btw been there done that and would again

[jmra]

you removed the yes without compunction answer, but yes I would shoot someone that was stealing my property the value has no bearing on it, oh and btw been there done that and would again

I didn't remove it.

[misterlarry]

Stealing stuff. No.
Stealing my guns that may then be used for violent crime on innocent people; I would want to stop that if possible. Nothing to do with the value of the guns. Still can't say if I would or wouldn't use deadly force.

I agree for the most part. If someone were stealing my firearms, I would want to do everything within my legal power to ensure that they were not successful in doing so.

[LAYGO]

This is a difficult question for me to answer. There is much more than the loss of property involved in a burglary, theft or robbery. We have been burglarized 3 times. Once they were in the house when my mother in law arrived with our two young daughters. Fortunately they retreated out the back door before they entered. My wife and I were robbed at gun point and then they took our car. I was physically assaulted once while another guy held a gun on me. I had my truck stolen right out of the driveway and caught up with the guy, but couldn't get the door open before he drove off and got away. Being the victim of burglary is as close as a man can ever feel to being "violated" in my opinion. Considering all the other crime experiences I can only imagine my emotions if I encountered someone stealing my property, no matter the value. Though I hope I am never faced with the situation (as do we all) I think there would be a strong temptation to shoot if I am completely honest with myself.

This.

After having stuff stolen that you worked hard for, it's aggravating beyond measure. I can remember how angry I was when my truck was broken into & about $3000 worth of stuff stolen.

I can't say how I'll react if I actually find myself in that position today.

[bayouhazard]

There's a difference between "is it ethical" and "is it cost effective" and based on multiple cost points, I assumed you were asking the second question and voted accordingly.

[Jeff B.]

Like many others, I said I would not shoot someone for property. I think the operative part of that question/statement for me, has to do with feeling like I or others were in danger. But, as I've said on occasion, if I see someone stealing my weedeater, I'm not shooting them... take the description, call the law and let them do their thing.

Jeff B.

[MechAg94]

I don't like thieves. I also don't care for the way this question presented. I get the impression that quite a few people would gladly shoot the thieving bastards if they were confident they would not be prosecuted or sued for it. However, the laws and courts are what they are. If it were legal, do you have an ethical problem with shooting thieves? Given the law and courts as they are, is it worth it? I think that might be a better way to approach it. I am not sure I want to answer that in a public forum though.

The other issue is this: How many times are you going to be in a position to shoot a thief where you can't honestly say your life is threatened? All I can think of is you catch a guy and he runs immediately. Anything short of that and other issues and threats come into play.

[RPBrown]

If they are in or coming in my house, yes, I will shoot. That said, if it is one of my vehicles and my family or myself is not in danger, or if it is just stolen property, probably not. However, if you put my family in danger you will be full of holes.

[rotor]

What if you had a crystal ball that told you a year from now the perp was going to kill someone in a robbery- just like what happened last week in my city where two guys all with long rap sheets went into a convenience store, held it up, shot one of the clerks in the chest ( who died) and ran off. Good videos of the guys and the shooter is already in jail.
Would I have shot to retrieve property- no. But.... the person who steals from you today probably isn't going to become a priest tomorrow.

You might want to take another look at the penal code's list of defenses for lawful use of deadly force. I don't think you'll find killing someone to prevent possible future crimes in order to make the world a better place is in there - which means if you do so, you're most likely going to lose everything you have, including your freedom.

As I said, I would not have shot to retrieve property. And I don't own a crystal ball either. And I know when it is legal for me to shoot. Doesn't help the 28 year old now in the morgue that was shot and killed while working in a convienence store. The Saudis have a good way of handling this, pickpocket first offense you cut off one hand, second offense.... you know the answer.