A Good Discussion

Over at VA's a discussion on the ethics of using lethal force to protect property got underway yesterday. It's a pretty good discussion which I recommend as long as you can tolerate the holier-than-thou, I know all the undisclosed facts of the case, judge jury and executioner attitude displayed by one of the commenters.

The post itself is really not about the ethics of what Mr. Horn did, as VA points out. But that's the direction the discussion went, as is the case many times. I still think the discussion is a good one in which some good points are made on both sides of the argument.

Would I use lethal force to protect my property if I thought it necessary under a given scenario? Let's put it this way, I wouldn't recommend coming on my property with the intent to steal my property and letting me catch you in the act. I most certainly would confront you, weapon in hand. And if I determine that you're threatening the lives of my family or myself (the defender of my family), then you're liable to wake up dead. At the very minimum you're going to wake up in the hospital with severe injuries sustained. That I can assure you, and with supreme confidence. Does that make me a bad person? According to some, I think it does.