One day the man was getting off the train in New York and was on his way home when the boy pulled out a knife and demanded he hand over his wallet He put his hand in his in side pocket and pulled out a gun and shot the boy. The boy's mother wanted to know what the man was doing with a gun. To which one would have replied : wrong question. And then it got really interesting : the community that said boy was a member of got really up set about what had happened. Now am for bidden from stating that it served him right but I just love the remarkable ability of human beings to become angry for the wrong reasons and towards the wrong people. But just remember this as it might come in use one day : try not to think that they cannot get as angry as you just because you are doing right and they are not because it does not work like that. Now next time you see someone doing something wrong just try and stop them. Then you might see what I mean

@Twocompulsive:

Here in Australia the shooter could have been charged,probably with manslaughter. Same goes for a shopkeeper who shoots dead an armed robber armed with a knife.

We have a law called 'reasonable force' which is applied to everyone (except apparently to our police) in cases of alleged self defence.
I don't know the full facts of the case you cited. On the face of it,the man may have overreacted. Who knows what he was feeling,How afraid he was? IF he was in genuine fear for his life,lethal force is acceptable,but not otherwise.

We have reasonable force over here too. But a lot of people think it is perfectly acceptable to kill burglars. Yet unless it was a genuine case of self defence they would not because they would have too much to lose. As it is a bit difficult to see your children when you are doing life for murder although for obvious reasons juries are generally sympathetic. But from time to time they return a guilty verdict. Most intruders - if the intention is to steal - do not actually want confrontation as that will slow them down. All they want is a quick entry taking what ever is available and an equally quick exit. Grappling with the owner is not part of the plan

(August 11, 2011 at 3:26 am)twocompulsive Wrote: We have reasonable force over here too. But a lot of people think it is perfectly acceptable to kill burglars. Yet unless it was a genuine case of self defence they would not because they would have too much to lose.

Not in Florida. Castle Doctrine FTW. We cheer when we hear about the 60 yr old woman that has killed the scumbag invading her home to rape & steal, as happened just last week in my area.

Remember all those billboards they through up about FL. extending the castle doctrine to cover your car? Some anti-gun group was warning people that they'd get shot in the face on I-4 when the traffic got bad (in no uncertain terms).

(August 11, 2011 at 8:30 am)Rhythm Wrote: Remember all those billboards they through up about FL. extending the castle doctrine to cover your car? Some anti-gun group was warning people that they'd get shot in the face on I-4 when the traffic got bad (in no uncertain terms).

It does cover occupied vehicles. Actually Florida takes it one step further & allows you to defend yourself with lethal force anywhere as long as:
a.) You are allowed to be where you are at. (i.e. not trespassing)

b.) You are being assaulted & are in fear of grievous bodily harm or for life.

Are you a fellow Floridian, Rhythm?

I've spent mosty of my life in FL. St. Petersburg and Gainesville, specifically. I'm up in KY at the moment.

I liked Gainesville and was looking forward to some time there, but their doctoral program in Latin lost enough funding to cut me out of going. Cool ass town with a great swamp feel and one of the best university campuses I've been to in the States.

Gotta love Florida, which doesn't even investigate gun crime when it's just "good ol' boys having fun."

My step-father and I were standing on my grandmother's porch in Dade City on New Year's Eve. Right at midnight, a whole bunch of gunfire erupted - more than I ever heard in the military.

A bullet came down through the roof, and buried itself in the concrete between us (we were separated by about a meter). He called the sheriff's department, which sent a deputy.

All we got was the "boy will be boys" line and "you shouldn't be outside on New Year's Eve." (Though if we'd been inside the house and the angle of descent of the bullet were only slightly different, it would have made no difference.)

Last I heard it was a crime to discharge a firearm into the air. A Felony. And it is assault or homicide if the discharge hits a person. Florida's Pasco County Sheriff's department doesn't care about that. Don't wanna ruin good ol boy fun.