Las Cruces, NM, Resident Shoots, Kills Burglar

[GreenStormCloud]

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/22068700/detail.html

Las Cruces Resident Shoots, Kills Burglar

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Las Cruces police are investigating the shooting death of an apparent burglar.

Police said early reports indicate that two men broke into an apartment on the 1400 block of Telshor Drive at 8 a.m. Sunday. The resident was awoken by the break-in, then grabbed a nearby handgun and opened fire.

A man only described as Hispanic and in this 20s was shot and killed by the resident. The other man is still on the loose and was apparently not struck

SNIP

[wtmusic]

1. A "burglar" becomes an "apparent burglar" in the space of one line

The burglar had it coming, but did the apparent burglar?

Apparently.

[burrfoot]

2. I don't know the laws in NM,

but I know that in FL the act of breaking in, in and of itself, constitutes legal sufficiency for the use of deadly force. You don't need to ask them if they were just going to steal stuff, if they planned on killing you or your family, or if they were just breaking the door down for the fun of it.

Of course, if someone breaks in, sees you with a gun in hand, and stops moving or runs away; you are no longer at imminent risk. However, if they see you and they keep coming at you, you are not required to ask why they are doing so.

I suspect that they used the term "apparent burglars" because they guy who was shot and killed was not charged with burglary. I assume the reason for that is obvious.

Or maybe that was just a comment on the journalistic inconsistency? If so, sorry! :toast:

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Journalist like to legally guard themselves.

So the frequently used terms like, "alleged", "apparent", "convicted", etc. Legal CYA.

[wtmusic]

9. Except in headlines, where "apparent" is such a prurience buzzkill nt

[SteveM]

10. Does it make a difference to you?

If someone has broken into my house at night while I'm asleep, I wouldn't much care if he was there to wash his socks.

Was there any evident communication from the crim as to his intentions? Would that make a difference?

[wtmusic]

11. Ah, but you're jumping to conclusions.

"Early reports indicate." "Apparent break-in."

Unfortunately, you can't be "apparently dead".

[SteveM]

28. No, sir, he was in someone's house when he wasn' supposed to be there...

what he does in that house is rather inconsequential. This guy's death is actually evident, but apparently no charges will be filed.

[skippy911sc]

3. Rather

be judged by 12 than carried by six. That was something that I had always heard. I don't think most people would want to kill someone in their own home unless they really felt as if it was a matter of life and death.

[sharesunited]

4. The same availability of a gun to the homeowner is the availability of a gun to an assailant.

Guns for everybody is very NRA-think.

The more guns the merrier.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. I'm personally glad the homeowner had the ability to defend himself.

[safeinOhio]

6. Can't blame the home owner for

defending himself. I can blame him for not using cheap effective security measures to prevent this tragedy in the first place. I doubt that he would have been a victim if he had motion detector lights, easily secured windows and doors.

[slackmaster]

13. How do you know he didn't have any of those "cheap effective" measures in place?

The article cited in the OP doesn't mention anything like that.

[safeinOhio]

17. I don't know but

I'm a good guesser. Crooks mostly pick the easy pickings. If you can find anything to make me think different let me know. Hope you have them in place and only have to shoot as a last resort. If not I can give you a lot of information and web sites.
I can't understand posters that get mad because I suggest ways to keep crooks out before you have to shoot them. I have guns for protection and hope to hell I never have to use them. I hope you feel the same way.

[slackmaster]

18. I also have guns and would severely hate to have to use one for self-defense

But I don't feel any obligation to go to the trouble and expense, however minor, of installing motion detector lights, security bars, or anything else to deter thieves. If the deadbolt locks on my doors and my ordinary windows are not enough, well, anyone who crosses that boundary is fair game for deadly force.

I agree that thieves go for low-hanging fruit, and that simple measures can deter them. But if my simple measures merely redirect a thief to steal from someone else, public safety has not really been served. I'd rather have kids growing up thinking that crime is not only morally wrong, but extremely risky.

[safeinOhio]

19. Sounds like you are a man on a mission

Good luck and I hope you are not a sound sleeper and your loved ones can handle everything while you are gone.

Many crimes are crimes of operatunity. Looks easy, do it. Your house looks easy, no one home, bingo.

Protect the whole community and start a neighborhood hood watch program.

Keep your gun handy and hope you don't have to use it on the next door neighbors kid. Me, I'll do everything I can to discourage anyone from trying to make me the victim a crime or violence.

[slackmaster]

20. I live alone, I sleep well, and we do have a neighborhood watch program (informal)

I don't leave valuables on display. I generally live frugally. Crime is rare in my neighborhood, and I view weapons the same way I do the fire extinguishers I keep handy. I probably won't ever need to use one, but it's a whole lot better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.

Keep your gun handy and hope you don't have to use it on the next door neighbors kid.

They're all grown up and come around to visit occasionally.

Me, I'll do everything I can to discourage anyone from trying to make me the victim a crime or violence.

I shouldn't have to do anything other than live as I wish to live. I expect people not to fuck with me.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

26. If he lives next door to a home invader his neighborhood isn't very safe.

[spin]

21. Some posters may take offense at your advice ...

but it's always a good idea to make your home a harder target.

It probably will not keep the professionals out, but if may discourage a fool.

The pros will probably ignore your house unless you have a lot of valuable items inside. The majority of the pros will wait until no one is home to break in.

The anti-gun crowd often accuses gun owners of having a desire to blow someone away. I know a lot of gun owners and very few of them have ever expressed such a desire. Most of those that did were young and foolish. I would take a little time to explain real life to them. Some listened.

Shooting is a martial art. Experienced martial artists rarely go looking for trouble. They hone their skills and hope never to have to use them in real life. They also practice "situational awareness". The mere fact that they are alert and aware of their surroundings often is enough to discourage attackers.

[GreenStormCloud]

24. A hardened perimeter is the first line of defense.

If it send a crook somewhere else, well and good. If he is determined, then it makes him make noise, set off the alarms, and makes sure that I or my wife are fully awake to deal with him if he makes it in.

It would be bad tactics for anyone to have a weak perimeter. Waking up with the bad guy already in your bedroom is not a good time to start your defense. Better to be awakened while he is working on the door or window.

That a hardened perimeter will likely save the life of the goblin is a side result. It greatly improves my odds, and that is the desired result.

Without guns, a strong perimeter is only a bluff. It is the guns that make the strong perimeter a winner.

Guns without a strong perimeter is like slow-playing pocket aces in hold'em. You will likely lose the hand be giving the other guy a chance.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. I'm not big on blaming victims, feel free to go the other way though.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

25. He has no legal obligation to take security measures. He bears no blame.

He was sleeping in his home when someone decided to invade it. It was a fatal mistake on the part of the criminal that the occupant bears no responsibility for.

[GreenStormCloud]

8. What do you have agianst self-defense? N/T

[slackmaster]

12. Too funny!

:rofl:

[friendly_iconoclast]

14. "Guns for everybody is very NRA-think."

Once again proving the truth of the old saying:

"The problem doesn't come from what you don't know, it comes from what you think you know that's not so."

[spin]

15. One group does agree with you ... criminals ...

They would love to see honest people disarmed. No law you could ever pass will prevent them from having firearms.

Criminals fear honest people with guns far more than police...

Professors James D. Wright and Peter Rossi surveyed 2,000 felons incarcerated in state prisons across the United States. Wright and Rossi reported that 34% of the felons said they personally had been “scared off, shot at, wounded, or captured by an armed victim”; 69% said that they knew at least one other criminal who had also; 34% said that when thinking about committing a crime they either “often” or “regularly” worried that they “ight get shot at by the victim”; and 57% agreed with the statement, “Most criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.” (James D. Wright & Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms <1986>. See Guns and Public Health: Epidemic of Violence or Pandemic of Propaganda? by Don B. Kates, et. al. Originally published as 61 Tenn. L. Rev. 513-596 <1994>).
http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2009/02/04/what-criminals-really-fear/

[GreenStormCloud]

16. That survey was in 1986, BEFORE the wave of passes shall-issue CCW laws.

Back then they were only likely to meet an armed citizen in their home, or maybe their business. But they were extremely unlikely to meet on on the street. Now there are between four to five milion CCW holders in the US. Makes life interesting for criminals. On notices that the violent crime rate began to fall at about the same time, and is half what it was then.

[proteus_lives]

27. We know.

You wish the homeowner had been helpless.

He had no right to defend himself or his property.

[Hangingon]

22. I looked at your earlier posts in this forum

Basically they show that people from all over are tired of being robbed and are doing something to prevent it. I am sure that you do not intend to promote self defense. Your own posts seem to indicate increasing numbers of citizens do not agree.