<p>Let’s not turn this civil discussion of the legal system into a nasty gun debate that would draw gun trolls (you know who I’m talking about!) out of the woodwork - which would be against the TOS.</p>
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<p>Great! I can shoot drunk drivers and texting drivers, then, to protect myself and others from their future crimes!</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, you can’t shoot them, but you can run them off the road. That would be more proportional.</p>
<p>I can’t run them off the road-- I’m on my bike and they just buzzed me. But, apparently, if I catch up to them at a traffic light, I can shoot them.</p>
<p>Interesting there’s been no new information at all on this case in several days. The slain woman appears to have no one clamoring for justice on her behalf, so I suspect the case will drag on until it is forgotten. Perhaps they are evaluating Greer for competency. He seemed a bit impaired during his loose lipped interview; stumbling over his age and misinterpreting some of the questions. I agree this shouldn’t become a debate about guns in general, but I do worry about guns in the hands of people suffering from dementia. </p>
<p>If the media picks up the story again I hope they fill us in on some of the missing information. Were these the same people who had burglarized the place before? How on earth could Greer have known it was the same people, he wasn’t home for the previous burglaries? Why didn’t he or his family install a security system after 3 burglaries and a safe with up to $20,000 in it? I’m not blaming him for the break in, just wondering what steps were taken to protect a vulnerable senior citizen besides supplying him with a gun. I’d like to hear Mr. Burglar’s version of what happened, despite his lack of credibility. </p>
<p>How to keep guns (and car steering wheels!) out of the hands of elders developing dementia is a difficult challenge.</p>
<p>@MiamiDAP I am a liberal and big gun proponent. But I believe the data showing high gun ownership corresponds to low population density which also corresponds to lower crime rates. I don’t think ownership of guns deter criminals. They definitely don’t in my city where criminals break in to steal guns. But I am glad to know that I can legally carry mine and defend myself in public or my home. </p>
<p>“But this woman was not killed in the course of committing a crime. She was killed after committing a crime.”</p>
<p>Oh puh-lease. I can’t believe you can say that with a straight face. </p>
<p>“But I am glad to know that I can legally carry mine and defend myself in public or my home”</p>
<p>I feel very differently about people having guns in their home, to protect their castles, and people just toting guns to Starbucks or Safeway. I hate guns but at least I can understand the first. The second just seems Ike insecure macho posturing to me. </p>
<p>btw, if I’m in line next to you at Starbucks or Safeway, how do I ascertain you’re a good guy with a gun vs a bad guy with a gun who is going to mow me down if I accidentally cut in line? </p>
<p>My gun is concealed and personally I am emotionally secure enough not to feel macho because I have a gun. Quite the opposite, That gun helps to look for opportunities not to get into a confrontation. But seeing the victims of assaults at the hospital who were minding their own business at Walmart, the bank, or just walking to their car, reminds me that I have a choice to be prepared to defend myself.</p>
<p>If we are at Safeway, you would recognize me as the guy shooting the person who attacked me. I’ve had people cut me on the road, flip me the bird and I have gotten good at laughing at these people. </p>
<p>Btw, I live in a state that has an “open-carry” law. I have yet to see someone openly carryIng their weapon.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, I can’t believe you don’t understand the difference between someone burglarizing a house, and someone running away from a house. </p>
<p>So, Pizzagirl, just to confirm, according to your rules I am allowed to shoot people who buzz me when I’m riding my bike? Dangerous drunk drivers and texters kill cyclists. Coming closer that three feet of me when I’m riding is illegal in my state, drunk driving is illegal, texting while driving is illegal. So I can shoot a dangerous driver, right? I’m willing to bet more people are killed by dangerous drivers than are killed in the course of a robbery.</p>
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Btw, I live in a state that has an “open-carry” law. I have yet to see someone openly carryIng their weapon.</p>
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<p>I live in an open-carry state as well, and I have yet to see anyone openly carrying their weapon as well. </p>
<p>From what I understand, those who carry guns do NOT want to give criminals a “heads up” as to who they will be facing if they commit a crime. When you open-carry, then a criminal is going to focus on you first. </p>
<p>How about if a driver just skims me and knocks me off my bike? Then can I shoot them?</p>
<p>Good guys with guns:
<a href=“The NRA’s Murder Mystery – Mother Jones”>http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/07/robert-dowlut-nra-murder-mystery</a></p>
<p>I wonder what the statistics are re: people successfully using their guns to protect their lives/loved ones’ lives from bad guys vs. those guns being involved in the accidental shooting of a resident or guest, being purposely used against the owner or guest by another owner, guest, or intruder.</p>
<p>“My gun is concealed and personally I am emotionally secure enough not to feel macho because I have a gun. Quite the opposite, That gun helps to look for opportunities not to get into a confrontation”</p>
<p>It must be awful to have so much fear in your life you can’t go to Safeway without feeling the need to defend yourself. </p>
<p>“Pizzagirl, I can’t believe you don’t understand the difference between someone burglarizing a house, and someone running away from a house.”</p>
<p>… That they just burglarized. Nice try. They weren’t running away from the house because they decided today was the day they wanted to start training for the marathon, they’d laced up their sneakers and whaddya know, someone shot them out of nowhere. </p>
<p>I guess if someone robs a bank, the moment they jump in the getaway car they aren’t bank robbers anymore! </p>
<p>Look, make no mistake, I don’t want people with guns blazing through neighborhoods. I, myself, would let the police handle retribution. But I’m just not going to be horribly upset that scumbags are dead. </p>
<p>I see. He can kill them because burglars are Bad People who deserve to die. Well, drunk or texting drivers are also Bad People, and unlike burglars, they kill people in large numbers. So I am perfectly justified in shooting them, right?</p>
<p>If you are 80 years old and were just brutally attacked by one of them in your home chances are most would be okay with it. A guess.</p>
<p>I see. If a driver knocks me down, then I can shoot them?</p>