Man accidentally shoots neighbor

[caarecengi]

If you go out with a gun to protect what's your's you need to be prepared. If they come after you with a weapon, yes, shoot them. If they are driving off in your car you need to have enough brains to not start sending rounds off in some general direction. Yes it sucks to have some dope head stealing from you. Sucks a lot more to be this idiot right now.

You do not bluff with a gun
That said, there's a difference between self-defense and reckless protection of personal property

 

[Alexx1401]

You do not bluff with a gun
That said, there's a difference between self-defense and reckless protection of personal property

Well he certainly was not bluffing. Now he will have the rest of his life to wonder why in the hell he started shooting at them as they were driving off.
I have often told people "if you are not sure you will shoot don't take a gun with you". No one in their right mind wants to shoot someone. I have (sadly) shot someone in the past. If I had to again it will not make me lose much sleep. I will be a happy guy if I go the rest of my life and only shoot at paper. Some people sadly will freeze when it comes to crunch time. Often no way to know for sure until it happens. Everyone certainly has the ability to not do what this idiot did though. He had ample time to stop and not start sending rounds down the damn street.

 

[ckuttner]

Just to echo all the other comments: We used to live in Corvallis, OR. As I remember the news story from about 15 years ago, a man in that town found a burglar going through his camper or trailer or something like that, in his driveway. He chased the burglar and shot and killed the burglar in the driveway as the burglar fled.
He did face charges, and the paper indicates he went through a lot of hassles, worries, and expense before he was acquitted, which I think took almost a year.
Bottom line...well, we know. The homeowner could as easily have faced jail time, and went through a lot of problems for doing what we all know was not a good idea. I can understand--I once went through a moment of temptation to shoot when our car was sideswiped by a drunk driver in our cul-de-sac. I was either wise or slow in action, and didn't grab my firearm.

 

[Joly]

Unfortunately, they are out there....folks with firearms that don't know when to shoot or how to shoot. Perhaps there should be some mandatory training; just like driving a car...you need to get a license to know the rules and learn the skills.
Geesh, what an idiot! I am sad for the woman's family and mad at the idiot.

 

[Alexx1401]

Unfortunately, they are out there....folks with firearms that don't know when to shoot or how to shoot. Perhaps there should be some mandatory training; just like driving a car...you need to get a license to know the rules and learn the skills.
Geesh, what an idiot! I am sad for the woman's family and mad at the idiot.

Do you drive? From what I see on the road, assuming those people have this "training", it does nothing. If all those morons I see acting like morons in cars don't have a license then we would have to have a HUGE number on un licensed drivers. Last time I was at the DMV a woman in front of me was getting her daughters help. She could not hear without her Daughter screaming the questions in her ear. Then could not pass the eye test. So they gave her a "daylight hours only" license. So she is deaf and blind but can drive during the day. Is this the kind of training you want the state to mandate? Be careful what you ask for.

 

[I594 Sucks]

A Spokane man shot and killed a man who was stealing his truck. Amazingly (and just barely), the judge let him off. While many would condemn the man, consider the following:

1. He used the fact that his truck WAS his livelihood.
2. The thief had a long record and was unlikely to stop being a criminal on his own.

The shooting of an innocent was tragic and avoidable, so I'm not defending the man. However, I won't automatically condemn the man for wishing to protect his own property. In all honesty, I can't say I wouldn't shoot someone stealing a valuable item from me, but I wouldn't shoot him as he was running away.

 

[I594 Sucks]

Unfortunately, they are out there....folks with firearms that don't know when to shoot or how to shoot. Perhaps there should be some mandatory training; just like driving a car...you need to get a license to know the rules and learn the skills.
Geesh, what an idiot! I am sad for the woman's family and mad at the idiot.

I would NOT recommend "mandatory" training for everyone, just because of a few accidents. We have mandatory training for a driver's license and still succeed in killing thousands, every year, so that is not any kind of guarantee.

 

[Alexx1401]

A Spokane man shot and killed a man who was stealing his truck. Amazingly (and just barely), the judge let him off. While many would condemn the man, consider the following:

1. He used the fact that his truck WAS his livelihood.
2. The thief had a long record and was unlikely to stop being a criminal on his own.

The shooting of an innocent was tragic and avoidable, so I'm not defending the man. However, I won't automatically condemn the man for wishing to protect his own property. In all honesty, I can't say I wouldn't shoot someone stealing a valuable item from me, but I wouldn't shoot him as he was running away.

I personally have ZERO problem with someone shooting a thief. If the guy had gone out and confronted the car thief fine. I would not do that but if he had I would not fault him. The problem was shooting at a car leaving. Shooting so wild that he sends a round into a neighbors home. If he had walked up the car and caught them, and they showed a weapon, fine, shoot. You have to have enough brains to not start sending rounds down the street.

 

[mjbskwim]

Soooooo.....
This would be "negligently " not "accidentally", correct ?

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Yep a negligent shooting.
Perhaps even a negligent use of the word "accidentally" in the thread title
( Just kidding about that last bit! )
Andy

 

[Caveman Jim]

Unfortunately, they are out there....folks with firearms that don't know when to shoot or how to shoot. Perhaps there should be some mandatory training; just like driving a car...you need to get a license to know the rules and learn the skills.
Geesh, what an idiot! I am sad for the woman's family and mad at the idiot.

AH, NO. Driving is a privilege that the state charges a fee for. The 2A is a RIGHT given to us by the Constitution. There is nothing that says people who bear arms can't be stupid, back then many were not, it was taken VERY SERIOUSLY....There are already enough laws and warnings on things in this state and country, we need no more to protect the stupid.

 

[Alexx1401]

Soooooo.....
This would be "negligently " not "accidentally", correct ?

Yes there's nothing accidental about what he did. It was all piss poor judgement

 

[mjbskwim]

Yes there's nothing accidental about what he did. It was all piss poor judgement

Yep just doing my part to get people to call it what it is and get that "accident " BS out of these discussions
(Not you Alex)
You were stupid and negligent,you didn't have a simple accident