Should People Have The Right To Use Force...

..to defend their homes?

What level of force is acceptable?

I believe we have the right to protect ourselves, our families and out property and to use whatever force is necessary.
If i was woken by a stranger in my house i would hit him with whatever was at hand, if i had a gun would shoot him/her.
The people who say well he might not be harmed so what, should i wait till he shoots me or my family and say dam he had a gun i should have shot him, no he/she is in my house without invitation whatever happens he has bought in himself he leaves his rights at the door when he breaks in.

Do you not think there is a danger though of people abusing the power?

What is reasonable force and how can somebody, who is frightened to death by an intruder, possibly be expected to make a clear judgement as to the level of force necessary?

I don't agree with the notion that if you break into a home you can expect to be murdered.

Everything can be abused, i watched a program where the re enact real crimes, one was a man killed another man in his house, he told the police he thought he was a burgler, it turned out he had invited over so he could kill him, he was having an affair with his wife and wanted him out the way, he was found out and sent to prison.
That i don't agree with and if it was day light and i saw it was a young kid i would use enough force to kick him out my house if he didn't run away first.

But if it was late at night, dark you hear a noise you go to investigate and you are confronted with a siloett of a man, you don't know what he is like, an ex boxer a black belt he may have a weapon what do you do? Wait and see if he will run away? wait and see if he does have a weapon and hits you with it or shoots you ore do you incapacitate him then find out. I don't believe you should automatically go for a kill but if you hit him and catch him wrong and do damage so be it. If he runs away let him go, i think it is wrong to chase him down and then beat him or kill him but if he stands his ground and you feel threatend you should have the right to protect yourself and if he gets hurt i ma afriaid thats tough luck. I look at it is this man could kill or Rape you don't know and he should not be there.
The law at the moment does not protect us, they rarely get prison time and most people only get 15yrs for murder.

Everyone should have the right to protect themselves, their family and their property.We all have guns here, and if I saw a stranger in my home I would assume he was their to do harm, I would shoot him. If one chooses that kind of lifstlye, stealing and harming others, then he must accept that he could be badly beaten or killed. I would choose the later, its easier than being sued because some scum bag hurt himslef whilst robbing your home.

I agree with EA, in this day and age i would assume they are here to do me or my family harm so i would take what ever step i had to to protect myself and them.

Is every burglar a bad person though? Bad enough to deserve to die?

Think about the implications. His wife, children, family etc...

I had a bit of a criminal past but it was out of necessity. Sometimes good people are forced to commit crimes. It doesn't make them bad people or even capable of doing you any harm.

The flip side to this is also that by making violent defence of your property lawful, are you not encouraging the burglar to be violent too? In other words, if he knows there's a chance he could be killed isn't he more likely to use force?

I wouldn't wait to fund out if a burglar in my home was violent or non violent, anyone who chooses that kind of lifestyle has to know that what he is doing is against the law. When a person makes a decision to do anything that s against the law must knew there are consequences, I don't care what the drove them to become a thief, they chose that path and they must pay the penalty if they get caught.

If you wake up and find a stranger in your home, you don't stop to think if he is a goody or a badly, your first reaction is to protect yourself and your loved ones. I know I wouldn't stop to wonder if this thief had a wife and kids at home, I would be concerned for mine only.