Replies

"Of course stealing is flat-out wrong. I never said otherwise. That doesn't justify the use of lethal force, either legally or morally, by an absent property owner."

Much of this dialogue between all us reasonable fellows makes me wonder whether we are wasting our breath. In years past, horse-stealing was punishable by hanging, not because the punishment fit the crime but because hanging is an awfully good deterrent.

When thieves steal as casually and repeatedly as the coke-addled perp in our story, maybe we should allow the use of lethal force in reply. Criminals' greatest motivation against committing their deeds is fear.

I have thought many times in the past that carjacking should be punishable by death; and that any crime committed that endangers the life of any innocent, whether in a vehicle or on the street, should be punishable by death. Sounds cruel by today's standards but a mere hundred years ago this was considered fair justice.

Wonder if our nation will ever return to days like that?

In years past, horse-stealing was punishable by hanging, not because the punishment fit the crime but because hanging is an awfully good deterrent.

I have to disagree. Horse-stealing was punished as it was because back then, a man's possessions, particularly his horse, had much more value than they do now. A man without a horse would likely be deprived of a way to earn a living, at the very least. Many possessions, in Frontier America, were literally the difference between life and death, especially because they were so difficult to replace.

In our times, individual possessions have lost much of their value. Few of them are truly necessary, and nearly all of them are easily replaceable. Even so, I still believe property rights to be as fundamental as the right to life.

Tom, I have no problem with Lethal force, believe me, if this guy broke in and the bar owner blew his ass away... I got no problem with it. I also am not losing sleep that the guy died trying to break in... however you cannot create mantraps its that simple. Booby Traps are illegal, pure and simple, regardless of the justification you use for building them. That "security" system would know more discriminate between the crackhead thief or the fire department... booby traps, regardless of their "justification" are indiscriminate weapons... if booby traps are justifiable as some here are insanely trying to argue then hey, you want to keep the neighbors kids off your lawn, plant some land mines... want to keep salesmen from bugging you, rig your doorbell to an acid dump.... sorry, indiscriminate time bombs designed with the pure intent and purpose to kill or maim when triggered are illegal.

As to the barbed wire guy, barbed wire strung along a fenceline is hardly a man trap.