Put everything you have worth owning into a Trust with other members of your family, lawsuits become far less intimidating if you're not going to lose your house... yeah, I'll shoot ya, I got nothin' ta lose... sometimes you've got to think like the bad guys.

Troy

While I'm sure I'm not the only person to ever express that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an assailant, I know that I would have a tough time feeling "normal" for a long time after. But I think the same would be true, and maybe even moreso in a hand-to-hand self defense situation. Shooting another Intelligent being simply because they were stupid enough to pick your home or family to get their meth money isn't a picnic, I'm sure. But I find it interesting that the story didn't mention what could have happened had the shooting not taken place. The aftermath sounds painful, but I wonder if this isn't just a lot of second guessing due to psychological impact. A financial burden seems trite compared to surviving a hostile situation or preventing bodily harm to your family.

And certainly shooting someone for stealing isn't what I was talking about.... I mean harmful intent. Otherwise, I'm calling the cops while holding them on the floor at gunpoint or after chasing them off.

In fact one such situation happened to me 6 years ago. My wife and I were asleep upstairs (no kids then) and heard someone trying to open our truck door which was directly beneath our window. Startled, I grabbed my 92FS and proceeded downstairs. I heard a farm truck turning over (it had a kill switch which prevented it from starting).

As I lay looking out into the darkness, I saw a man coming up to the deck and as he drew nearer, I engaged the outdoor floods and room lights. My gun was held in a clearly visible manner (though not pointed at the person) behind a sliding glass door. It was a young man, early twenties, obviously stoned and drunk. I told him that I didn't appreciate him attempting to steal my vehicles and scaring the crap out of my family (yelling through the glass door). He told me his car went in the ditch (gee, I wonder why) up the road and that he was just looking for a way home.

I dialed the police while he stood there, and out of his hearing informed the cops I had a person attempting to steal my vehicles at 3 in the morning. I informed the man that a tow truck was on the way (about 20 min. after the police, it was...) and that he needed to go wait by the car. He ran off into the dark.

The cop arrived a bit later and we spoke about what had happened and as we were talking, a car pulled out of the driveway down the road. The cop rushed off, and it turned out that the guy had just moved along to the next house. The idiot there decided to give him a ride. Maybe he knew him or something...

Anyway, the guy and the 3 others in his car were all arrested, though proof of drunk driving was impossible. The man had quite an escalating record going for him with burglary and battery several times on the list. I'm thankful it was resolved peacefully, but I'm also thankful that I had my gun there. I'm convinced to this day that things probably would have gone differently had we not heard the guy. If he had come into my house looking for keys (and probably money and any booze I had) who knows what he may have done when I confronted him without benefit of a lot of light and a glass door between us.

Well, I guess there is nothing wrong with living by the John Wayne motto of,

"I never killed a man who didn't need killing."

As long as you are willing to pay the price.

I've never had to use a firearm for self defense, but I've had the joy of having been in a situation where it would have been justifiable. Those nightmares are enough, thank you.

That being said, I'd rather have those than the other kind.