Re: @Ted Treen ...@AC ... The cat is pretty well out of the bag already
@Ian Michael Gumby
The law in the US varies from state to state. In most the some breaking into your house does not have to display a weapon to be considered a threat to your safety. In this case he had both a fair warning, AND a weapon, although probably not visible. He was carrying what the police sometimes call an abduction or rape kit. Most states have in addition to a "stand your ground" standard, either overt (as in Florida) or simply by omission as in most of the rest, that means that you can defend yourself if threatened, whether or not you are in your home, even California. While the common advice - even in the US - is to follow Monet Python's example and "run away," many people simply cannot do that because of age, infirmity or simple lack of condition. And, police response time is typically at least an order of magnitude longer than the typical "violent interaction" time between a felon and victim. Ideally, we should prosecute ANYONE who sues someone who defended themselves and injured or killed the felon as an accomplice to the crime. They are after all attempting to profit from the crime or attempted crime. And, while juries occasionally go off the rails, in the US they are not commonly sympathetic with the criminal, injured or not, or his or her relatives.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
