Posted on 12/30/2008 8:57:56 AM PST by rellimpank
I understand and appreciate that he had the right to do what he did. I was just asking if he had to.
And for those who want drug use to be legalized, will it be permissible to shoot an intruder who is “out of his mind” on that basis alone?
Public intoxication is illegal even if this man had not been driving.
And I do disagree with this notion of identical factory homes. I see it. It is cheap and easy to put up. But it denies individuality (that and the civic ass. that dictates what colors you may and may not paint your home or even what kinds of plants you put out in front).
Shooting first and asking questions later when the man is outside the house is not a very good response. If that’s all he was doing, the home owner should be prosecuted.
My roommates have done the same thing. It was 2:30am and they locked themselves out. They were completely hammered and pounding on the door. It scared the crap out of me, but I didn’t shoot them through the damn door and it sure was 9pm at night.
I’m a gun owner and take the repsonsibility of having one very seriously. The more I think about this, the more mad I get. I have a lot of questions regarding what hapepned as the article didn’t have enough info.
We shouldn’t have to speculate.
The man called. Police responded. What was the response time?
How long after he called did he wait before pulling the trigger?
How long after he pulled the trigger did the officers arrive?
How much sooner would the response have been if he’d claimed “Officer DOWN!” (meaning an officer had already been shot at the scene)?
“Officers were called to the home at 9:50 p.m. Sunday on a report of a burglary in process. They found Kennedy in the backyard. He had been shot once.”
The “more details” link didn’t give more detail, it approximated time to “about 10 p.m.”
http://www.gazette.com/articles/police_45478___article.html/kennedy_house.html
“Sean Kennedy, 22, of Colorado Springs, was found with at least one bullet wound in the backyard of a house in the 3200 block of Virginia Avenue about 10 p.m. Sunday, Colorado Springs police said.”
And according to the second article, they’d typically pound on a rear window, not door, because one of the guys had a room on the back side of the home and they would knock on it when they were locked out.
“I understand and appreciate that he had the right to do what he did. I was just asking if he had to.”
Correct. Just because you have the right doesnt mean it’s right to shoot. What kind of P***y is so scared he shoots through a door. If the guy breaks in and looks aggressive its another matter. Some people are just trigger happy morons.
I’d say drinking was his first mistake. The Lord agrees with me. By the time he was drunk, his judgment was chemically impaired so that he couldn’t decide whether or not to drive.
About 10 or 15 years ago a somewhat similar case happened in Colorado Springs.
An ex-husband, drunk out of his mind, pounded on the front door of his ex, shouting and hollering.
She leaned out of the upstairs window with a gun and shot him dead on the front stoop.
It caused a bit of hoopla in the news, but the local DA considered it self defense under the then-new Make My Day law here in CO.
It was then I began to feel, and actually be, safer.
I had a guy pounding on my door once so we called the police. When they got there they said, “if this was my house, my wife would have shot the guy.” Of course, he wasn’t just knocking loudly, he almost had the door kicked in when my wife started screaming. He then said, “Sorry, wrong house. !@@%$@@!!”
As it was described, he was aggressive.
Had he come to my door, who knows what would have happened, I suspect he'd still be dead, but with a shotgun blast insted of a single bullet.
If the homeowners would have shot him, it would have been justified. Drinking is stupid.
That's the point. If Kennedy wasn't in the guys house the homeowner didn't have the right to kill him. From Post #47 it's pretty clear that under Colorado law if Kennedy was not in the man's house and (in the Boolean sense) not constituting a threat to his person or property, the man had no right to use lethal force.
From the published reports it looks like the homeowner panicked and did the wrong thing. People who support gun rights shouldn't be backing him up. A lot of people here don't seem to see that. Colorado is drifting to the left. All the phony macho posturing in the world isn't going to change the law but things like this have the potential to discredit supporters of gun rights and strengthen the other side.
Trespasser, yes. But iminent threat? Depends on individual's actions and proximity. I'd like to see more info on this case when it comes available.
Oh, back yard. Different story. I was about to post that I don’t think I’d shoot somebody no matter how loud they were banging on my door as long as no part of their body ever made it inside the house, but I was thinking front door.
“Poor dear Mr. Kennedy could end up as a poster child for the gun grabbers.”
I don’t see why. The homeowners didn’t know why that moron was beating on their BACK door. If you come over to my place and beat on my back door you will be dead. I’m not going to try to figure out what you’re doing back there or if your drunk. My family comes before you. My family comes before my desire to keep the castle doctrine.
If you’re holding a party in your backyard and someone aggressively comes after you, then I can see shooting him to protect you or your family.
This is an entirely different situation. The man never entered the house. Your typical burglar or murderer isn’t going to pound loudly on the outside of the house. If you think they’re faking it to get you to open the door, then call the cops. If they actually enter your home, then take action, but to be honest, the guy would’ve probably realized his mistake the second he was in and would not have attacked anyone.
I’m sick and disgusted that gun rights supporters would back anyone killing this guy for merely being on someone else’s property. This is what makes people go after our rights.
I’m curious at what point the guy was shot. Was he “pounding” on the door, or was he actually trying to get in? I’d be reluctant to pull the trigger as long as the guy was outside.
I don’t understand, everyone on FR was cheering the guy down in Texas who ran after some burglarizes for robbing a neighbor’s house, subsequently shooting them, while the police man was outside.
Shooting through a door is great wickedness. I had a Denver police officer basically tell me I should have shot a guy who was trying to kick in my door.
I see what the difference is. In hindsight the dope was innocently drunk and wasn’t meaning harm to the residence. They didn’t know that apparently.
Coloradans are liberal but they’re also gun lovers. I don’t think they’ll be convicted as long as they can show they feared for their lives.
Not just walking THROUGH the backyard to short cut, but actually walking UP to the house and pounding on a window.
Is that agressive? Attempt at breaking in? Does glass have to break in order for it to be “agressive”?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.