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Let's get sorted out before this thread goes any further with regard to self-defence in the UK. Because of the widespread LACK of privately owned firearms, in particular handguns of which there are VERY few [and those that there are have to kept locked up], everybody has the right in Common Law to defend themselves. If that means picking up the nearest object to hand, and braining/laying out/partially or wholly dismembering the malfeasant, then so be it. However, stopping when he is on the ground and hopefully unconscious is usually a 'good thing to do', as is calling 999 [you 911] to get police and maybe an ambulance. You are, however, not required to render any form of paramedical assistance, no matter how much blood he is leaking onto your carpet, particularly if you have defended yourself and your wife and family with the help of something sharp.
Having time to go to your gun cabinet, selecting a suitable firearm and THEN using it on the goblin will not go down well in court. Sad, but true.
However, there IS a bright side, as you'll see when I advise you that in the last few years SEVEN bad guys have been done to death by their intended victims, most often with whatever it was that they brought with them, and in each case the intended victim walked.
Initially, in accordance with the law in yUK, they were charged with manslaughter, a charge that was instantly dropped when the circumstances were made evidential in court.
One other point is that home invasions, daily events all over the US of A, are so passing rare here that they are almost unheard of, particularly by people with firearms. Our physical home security is generally of a far higher level than any of yours, with most homes having triple or quadruple security locks on front doors - no porches like you do, and an inbuilt reticence to leaving doors open like many of you do. Our double and triple-glazed windows, too, are secure bolted, even when part-opened for ventilation. Remember that a very high proportion of homes here in UK are solid double brick masonry or stone, rather than Tyvek and wood. Wooden/frame houses are NOT at all usual. Older houses are even better constructed, and around 50% of all dwellings in the UK still predate WW2.
tac
Having time to go to your gun cabinet, selecting a suitable firearm and THEN using it on the goblin will not go down well in court. Sad, but true.
However, there IS a bright side, as you'll see when I advise you that in the last few years SEVEN bad guys have been done to death by their intended victims, most often with whatever it was that they brought with them, and in each case the intended victim walked.
Initially, in accordance with the law in yUK, they were charged with manslaughter, a charge that was instantly dropped when the circumstances were made evidential in court.
One other point is that home invasions, daily events all over the US of A, are so passing rare here that they are almost unheard of, particularly by people with firearms. Our physical home security is generally of a far higher level than any of yours, with most homes having triple or quadruple security locks on front doors - no porches like you do, and an inbuilt reticence to leaving doors open like many of you do. Our double and triple-glazed windows, too, are secure bolted, even when part-opened for ventilation. Remember that a very high proportion of homes here in UK are solid double brick masonry or stone, rather than Tyvek and wood. Wooden/frame houses are NOT at all usual. Older houses are even better constructed, and around 50% of all dwellings in the UK still predate WW2.
tac