News2 mins ago
Reasonable use of force.
So what do you guys consider to be reasonable use of force to protect your loved ones and/or property?
Personally, if somebody steps over my threshold uninvited, they are fair game: I have no idea whether they are armed or not, and so to protect my family I would use all the force available to me and if that means maiming or even death, then so be it.
A bit extreme? possibly, but who can honestly say they would not do the same to protect their kids (those that have kids).
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by flanker. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
I think the thing is if someone breaks into your house do you wait till you see if they have a tool ( knife , screwdriver etc ) before you do anything or maybe if they do, do you then wait and see if they use it before you do anything.... No chance not me , i have a baseball bat next to my bed and if the person is a 12 year old girl or a 40 year old bloke they are geting that with all the force i have round their head .
cruthinboy:
"someone breaks into my house or threatens me, they get exactly what I deem they deserve!"
Thank goodness that we have a justice system which is capable of punishing people like cruthinboy for doing to burglars what he thinks they deserve rather than what the law says is reasonable.
And thank goodness that we have sensible people on juries like stoo_pid (or like the people who convicted Tony Martin).
Nice one Donkey. Expect the liberals to demand the full rigours of the law to deal with you though! No cosy chats for you! I have a dumbell rod next to my bed for the same thing - actually I'd probably break their kneecaps with it, then interrogate them about other scumbags they may be involved with.
cruthinboy:
"if a lot of people here want to sit them down and empathise with the culprit over a nice cup of camomile, I'm not going to stop you!"
I am not aware of ANYBODY, anywhere on this website, or anywhere else, who has ever suggested or said or implied that we should "sit them down" or have a "nice cup of camomile", so that ridiculous comment by cruthinboy is irrelevant and only serves to weaken his argument.
What I am advocating is that we (i.e. the law-abiding householders) should use reasonable force to repel the burglars or to defend ourselves against them. If the circumstances are such that it would be reasonable for a householder to kill or maim a burglar, then I have no problem with that. There have been numerous cases in which householders in this country have killed burglars, and have not been prosecuted, for precisely the reason that it was reasonable in the circumstances.
No cozy chats for me no... if everyone took my attitude then there would be a lot less people breaking into houses, There are to many stories these days of people breaking into peoples house's , killing , raping , beating..... I aint taking that chance for no-one especially if I have a family there... You break into my house and they will regret it cause I wont hesitate.
Listen up you liberals - you do what you want in the circumstances, and let people like me do what I want.
Like Donkey says, in the circumstances how do we know what force is reasonable - can't 14 year olds carry knives or even guns?
I don't want to be lying on my back with blood gurgling from my froth corrupted lungs, thinking "Christ, it would have been reasonable to top that scumbag after all"
Plus, think of the crimes you'd be preventing in the future: as Alan Partridge said "it'd be one less wouldn't it?"
cruthinboy: Listen up you liberals - you do what you want in the circumstances, and let people like me do what I want.
No, I won't "let you do what you want" because the law won't allow you to do so.
in the circumstances how do we know what force is reasonable - can't 14 year olds carry knives or even guns?
Yes they can, but the hypothetical one I was talking about didn't.
I don't want to be lying on my back with blood gurgling from my froth corrupted lungs, thinking "Christ, it would have been reasonable to top that scumbag after all"
Neither do I. As a wishy-washy liberal do-gooder (and proud of it), I would regret any death - even yours.
I've had this discussion with my children and they think that they can attack and beat the hell out of anyone who breaks into our house. Yes, it may be that they deserve it, but the law states reasonable force. If an intruder comes at you with a knife it can be considered reasonable that you use some sort of weapon to disarm them or keep them back. That doesn't then mean that you have the right to beat them to a pulp when they are disarmed. If they are standing over a loved one brandishing a knife and they intend to stab them then it can be considered reasonable force that you stab them first or hit them over the head with a frying pan. Again, once you are out of danger you do not have the right to kill them as the danger is now over.
Some burglars are opportunists and may be unarmed, some may be kids dragged along by their peers to prove themselves and some may be druggies trying to get enough money for the next fix. The best thing to do if you discover you have intruders in the middle of the night is to keep all of the family together, make some noise and turn on lights to alert them that someone is awake. Then phone the police and wait for them to get there. The sheer act of going downstairs to confront them will panic them and may force them to take drastic action like seizing a knife. Is it worth risking your life, how will your family feel if you are killed?
georgeit79, you call me unreasonable because I disagree with you???
Thing is, I work with a load of left liberal PCers so I'm well used to the usual bland, run-of-the-mill opinions I see on here ... I just can't believe that people would actually go to the trouble of typing such standard tosh!
In fact, I definitely think I'll give all this a miss from now on - it's actually quite depresssing the sheer conformity of people on here!
Im sorry im with cruthinboy, in this day 7 year olds walk about with knives 14 year olds have guns, Someone breaks into my house im not waiting to see if they have something or are going to use something, It doesn't take long for someone to pull a knife out their pocket and use it, im now laying on the floor thinking wish I hadn't trusted that one. I will say it again someone breaks into my house they will get a bat round their head as hard as I possible can, not the legs not the chest , The head. The second that scum broke into my house he lost all the trust I could have possibly had for him/her.
cruthinboy, I'm not saying you're being unreasonable because I disagree with you- I'm saying it's unreasonable to suggest that it's ok to kill someone who breaks into your house unarmed...
I'd be upset if you give answerbank a miss, because without disagreement this site is a bore- but do what you must!
Back by (sort of) popular demand from georgit79 (-:
Yes, but we're talking split-second decisions probably aren't we? If I could see it was some terrified little boy that had broken in for I dare, of course I wouldn't hurt him - might frighten him to teach him a salutary lesson; but who among us can really say what would happen? Especially if you sleep upstairs and hear someone downstairs, you'd be bloody mad not to pick up a makeshift weapon on the way down wouldn't you?
And if you have children, frankly negligent.
Of course, if it came to the crunch I might well feel compassion - because I'm the sort of decent bloke that doesn't break into people's houses - but I won't condemn anyone who does take "direct action" in the finest anarchist tradition.
