>Serious response: In most states the store owner would have the right to use >force to prevent harm to property, but the degree of force would have to be >in some sense proportionate to the harm to be prevented. >Shooting a burglar who's coming at you with a tire iron is probably going to >be accepted; shooting a shoplifter in the back is probably way out of bounds [snip] Legal questions are probably best answered by lawyers. Amputating peoples' hands or setting fire to their cars is pretty serious stuff that will get you the undivided attention of Officer Friendly and Jesse the Judge. You'd better know exactly what you are doing and what the law has to say on the matter. There are lots of attorneys who would be more than willing to go over the law regarding self defense and citizens' arrest for a couple hundred bucks. For the self defense stuff in particular courses like Massad Ayoob's "Judicious Use of Deadly Force" (www.ayoob.com) will give you an excellent education for $700 and two exhausting but fascinating weekends of your time.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Jun 19 2003 - 13:39:54 PDT