That is another factor that has to be weighed.
I am not implying that my hypothetical exists in a vacuum alone and supreme.


Defense of others is another existing justification. In fact, reading Florida's law it explicitly allows lethal force to be employed if it looks like there is a kidnapping. I would think killing instead of kidnapping would be worse.

And while it's not on the specific topic, it's a demonstration of why we have the laws we have.
Some here have presented ideals of using their own force as a response to the criminals, as a message. I am furthering on that issue.

And in THIS case Horn made the right choice. had there been a block party going on, the choice might have been different.

The risk was that they were leaving the scene of a crime. If a policeman can shoot a man simply because he might be a threat, this man should have the legal authority to shoot men he KNEW committed a crime.
And no I'm not giving Horn the authority of a policemen, but I AM giving him the authority to use his best judgement in that situation. I think he chose right.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

He doesn't even think he made the right choice. Whatever gets you through the night.

We don't know the training of this guy. We let 16 year olds drive cars based on the rudimentary training that most get. What's more dangerous? I'll take my chances on THIS guy. he KNEW those guys were thieves, he KNEW they were gonna get away, and he TRIED a better way.

So is those guys not breaking in in the first place. So was those guys attacking him the next day. That's the great part about whatifs.

Yeah, suppose.

Or look at campuses where students AREN'T allowed to have guns. The bad guys have time to shoot up the whole place before anybody can get there to help. You have a whole building full of unarmed target. Hot damn.
Good old "Whatif".
No cops in THIS case though.

__________________
Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

Yeah that's what he said. I'd say the same thing if I had a gran jury deciding whether or not to press charges.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

This case is a perfect example of "If you abuse your rights, you risk losing your rights." The law backs up Horn in this case, but what he did was a misuse of his legal rights. This kind of irresonsponsible action can lead to laws being passed that would make it illegal to defend one's life in a similar situation. Horn will most probably become the poster child for the anti-2nd Amendment bunch who will start pushing even harder to restrict gun-ownership and that's the crux of this issue. His misuse of his rights just gave ammo to the very people who would take action to take those rights away from him.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

Nope, he said that after the grand jury had decided to not bring him up on charges.

The real Joe Horn, he insisted in an exclusive interview the day after he was cleared by a Harris County grand jury in the deaths of Diego Ortiz and Hernando Riascos Torres, is just a boring retired engineer.

And a 61-year-old Pasadena grandfather who, energized by fear that afternoon last Nov. 14, made a decision that has haunted him since, a decision he would take back if he could.

"I would never advocate anyone doing what I did," Horn said from his attorney's west Houston home. "We are not geared for that."

Horn: 'I would never advocate anyone doing what I did' | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Actually I go the other way and say that this is expressly the reason this law was created.
Especially when you look at the part that allows you to protect property if you feel it won't be recovered. Sounds like Horn complied with it 100%.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

I stilll say the most important part was the part about him saying it from "his attorney's house. It's not like he's gonna throw a "hot damn I killed them [insert derogatory slur]" party.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

I think that we're saying the same thing, but from different angles. There's no doubt that Horn was well within his rights and the law in what he did. But, by taking his rights to an extreme that exceeds the responsible exercise of those rights (misuing them), he runs the risk of giving people motivation and evidence to support limiting his rights. His irresponsible actions today may end up costing him the right to responsibly exercise his rights at a time and place where more is at stake than mere "stuff". He met the obligations of the law, but in doing so, set himself (and others) up to lose his rights. This case is similar to those where people burn flags in protest. By abusing a legal right, they run the risk of having their rights restricted due to the public response to thier irresponsibility.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."