DomAviator
Posts: 1253
Joined: 4/22/2008 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: AquaticSub On the bright side, I can't be charged with murder if I'm using a sword whereas a home owner who shoots an invader can sometimes be charged with murder - according to the lovely man who taught my college law and ethics class a few years ago anyway. I wouldn't bet on that. I have concealed carry permits in several states and I while I am not a lawyer, I have never seen a statute that references "shooting someone"... The statutes I have seen all pertain to "use of lethal force"... It doesnt matter if you shoot him with a (legally owned) bazooka, hack him up with a samuri sword, or whack him over the head with the toilet tank lid... If you kill him you have deployed "lethal force"... Lethal force laws vary dramatically by state. For example in NY I had a "duty to retreat" and could only employ lethal force to protect MY OWN life. In other words, if I walk into the house carrying a loaded AR-15 in my hands and someone is holding a knife to my wifes throat while raping my daughter (I have neither but at the time I lived in NY I did) I could NOT legally shoot the guy. My legal duty is to retreat, ie leave and call the cops and I PERSONALLY was not in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. In the totally outrageous hypothetical situation above, If I shot him I would have been charged... Now would I be convicted? Who knows... If the DA got the right jury, and there was a rabble rousing faction like Al Shapton at play, quite possibly... By comparison here in Texas I have no duty to retreat. We follow something called "the castle doctrine" where a mans home is his castle and I can shoot anyone committing a felony within the walls of my castle. I can also employ deadly force to protect the "well being or property of another"... So if I am walking down the street and somebody is beating on an old lady trying to take her purse - I can fire on him and it is a good shoot. However, and again Im not a lawyer - but take this for what its worth - in all but a handful of states - Texas being one - if you engage an assailant you absolutely positively want to kill him. If you chop his arm off with a sword or scar him up or whatever he can and will sue you!!! (Texas and a few other western states have specific statuatory exemptions so that a person you injure or kill in the commission of a crime, or their estate, has no right to sue you for their injuries or death.) There is a case that happened in Buffalo NY, no shit, where a burgular got a $46,000 judgement from a home owner whose dog mauled him while he was attempting to burgularize the house. The fucker was in prison but had plenty of commissary money because he was disfigured and emotionally traumatized etc!!! There was also a case in NY somewhere in which a rape victim got a jail sentence for malicious wounding or something and some crazy civil penalty like a $200,000 judgement against her for biting off the tip of someones cock while he was forcing her to perform oral sex... Dead men dont testify at either grand jury hearings or civil trials, so if you engage, then engage to kill lest you have him swearing that he put the machete down and was in the process of peacefully surrendering when you went Bronson on him and started shooting him even though you were no longer in danger... If the assialant is dead, the only story that will be told is yours and what the crime scene investigators come up with in terms of who was standing where etc... My advice, know the laws in your state and if you arent 100% sure you can employ deadly force and achive an immediate kill, dont engage. Edited to add: Another consideration is that your sword / knife may not be legal. Here in Texas I can legally own an M-60 Machine Gun, MP-5, or M-16 provided I get the Sherrifs signature and pay a $200 transfer tax to BATF. However, in Texas an edged weapon with a blade more than 5-1/2" is illegal unless it is in your own home, or being used in a historical reenactment, theatrical production or in some official capacity (Liek the swords worn by Navy officers.... SO, if I see a kid being abducted out in the street and I run out there with my machine gun Im getting a pat on the back, if you run out there with your sword you're getting charged.... Weapons laws can be funky...
< Message edited by DomAviator -- 5/26/2008 2:12:09 AM >
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