My understanding has always been that so long as the invader is inside your home there fewer legal issues, but that shooting someone outside your home is much tougher to justify. Protecting life is OK - protecting property is not OK.

I think that difference is what makes the NO "shoot to kill" order a big deal since they could then shoot to protect property (though it sounds like they didn't). Normally police can only shoot to protect life.

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Please, if you have a gun in a home where there is even a remote chance of children being present, make sure the guns are stored unloaded and locked up (safe and/or trigger lock).

When your kids get old enough to show interest in guns - or even if they don't show an interest - please enroll them in a gun safety class. I had a friend in high school that blew a hole in his head while trying to clean a loaded gun. Just a bit of good training would have easily prevented his death. Guns in knowledable hands are really safe, but in the hands of the untrained they are very very dangerous.

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