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Old February 18, 2009, 12:36 PM   #17
OldMarksman
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Join Date: June 8, 2008
Posts: 4,022
Quote:
If I'm chased into my room by someone I perceive to be a threat enough to shoot at them were they to get inside, I certainly would have no hesitation to shoot them through the door
You cannot really know that the person on the other side of the door is in fact the person you saw chasing you unless you can see through the door. If he is not I don't think you would have a defense. You probably should consult an attorney on that--not the one who does your will, but a trial lawyer who specializes in your state's criminal code and knows the relevant case law.

Also, you cannot depend on an assumptions (1) that shooting through the door would hit the assailant and (2) that your misses would not hit someone else.

I don't know how many people have actually had anyone trying to get into his or her house or bedroom door at night, but it is a terrifying experience. You need to have your wits about you and shoot effectively when you need to and only when you need to. Blasting away at someone you cannot see is contra-indicated.

If someone is breaking through with an axe you are justified legally and morally to use deadly force (depending on obligation to retreat or the possibility of retreating, in some states), but you do have to be able to get your shots on target. Even if the invader has presented himself as a clear treat, I, for one, will not shoot on the basis of my guess of where he may be standing, crouching, walking, running, or kneeling.

Quote:
Were this a question of MILITARY tactics and there no question whatsoever as to the intent or ability of the assailants, and little worry at all about mistaking the BG for someone else, and no worry about misses (***that cover it all?***), would you then be firing through the door/wall or would you still wait until the BG could see you in plain sight?
It's not a question of whether he can "see me in plain sight." Based on the assumption that intent and ability are known, it's then a matter of whether I can hit him. And if I can't see him, we cannot say that we have "no worry at all about misses." And "little worry at all" about mistaken identity is still too much worry to permit your firing. By the way, these days that's usually true in military scenarios also, except in the heat of battle.
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