Oscar Pistorius accidentally shoots and kills GF (Page 2)

BikerGrrrl - 2013-02-14 10:00 AM

Could be.  I am just basing my assumptions on statistics, so I think unlikely not.  But could be.

cgregg - 2013-02-14 7:03 AM Man, that defense lawyer is going to cost him an arm and a leg.

Goosedog - 2013-02-14 9:50 AM

What if she was the abusive one?

 

mehaner - 2013-02-14 10:09 AM

plenty of people have shot their abuser in self-defense.

mehaner - 2013-02-14 10:09 AM

plenty of people have shot their abuser in self-defense.

powerman - 2013-02-14 6:10 AM

See... honestly... I do not even know how that happens... GF, comes in quiet... tries not to wake BF... BF shoots an unidentified target without even asking who it is. Sorry... I do not get it.

I understand if somebody comes over "unexpected". But I have people that live in my house. It is not "unexpected" for another human being to be there besides me. I do not shoot other humans without knowing who it is. I just don't get it.

wannabefaster - 2013-02-14 6:38 AM I am a gun owner. A very safe gun owner. But I have to be cognizant of the dangers that having a gun introduces in to my home. I think that statistics will bear out that you are orders of magnitude more likely to have an accidental shooting of yourself or a family member than you are to ever have to use a gun for self defense (I am not going to argue about whether or not this incident was accidental). If you have a gun around to "keep your family safe" you are probably deluding yourself. Your family would be safer without this type of weapon easily accessible in the house. I have made gun safety and education about guns something that I teach my kids. But they are kids and kids do stupid things (adults too). Before you all jump on me about how safe you are with your guns, I suspect just about everyone who has had an accidental shooting happen to them would have said the same thing. My guns are not for self defense. If I could figure out a way to safely have them available as such, I would. As it is, they are locked away. Unless I knew that someone was coming well in advance my guns would be useless to me for home protection. This is what I feel I have to do to keep my family safe from guns in my home. My gut wants the gun in my bedside table. My brain tells me this is not the safest thing to do. Flame suit on.

running2far - 2013-02-14 8:24 AM It happened in Minnesota back in December. A grandfather shot his grand daughter coming home late. I'm not sure if she pulled through, but it didn't sound good.

powerman - 2013-02-14 10:07 AM

I'll leave my judgments of how you are doing it wrong to myself.

powerman - 2013-02-14 10:21 AM

I heard about that too. Here there have been a couple of shootings through the years of drunks trying to get into the wrong house. But at that point they are intruders. We have "make my day" law here...  but even if someone is in my house, I'm not just going to shoot them for it... there needs to be reason, and I need to know my target... and I pray that never happens.

And even in high crime areas... there is a huge difference between your GF coming for a booty call, and invaders seeking to do you harm. My MIL is not going to be bum rushing me in the middle of the night....

But I don't care about any of that... I will always choose a dog over a gun. I just happen to have both. But a dog will always let you know what the score is when you wake up in the middle of the night. I don't want to shoot anyone in my house, I want to keep them out.

wannabefaster - 2013-02-14 8:38 AM I am a gun owner. A very safe gun owner. But I have to be cognizant of the dangers that having a gun introduces in to my home. I think that statistics will bear out that you are orders of magnitude more likely to have an accidental shooting of yourself or a family member than you are to ever have to use a gun for self defense (I am not going to argue about whether or not this incident was accidental). If you have a gun around to "keep your family safe" you are probably deluding yourself. Your family would be safer without this type of weapon easily accessible in the house. I have made gun safety and education about guns something that I teach my kids. But they are kids and kids do stupid things (adults too). Before you all jump on me about how safe you are with your guns, I suspect just about everyone who has had an accidental shooting happen to them would have said the same thing. My guns are not for self defense. If I could figure out a way to safely have them available as such, I would. As it is, they are locked away. Unless I knew that someone was coming well in advance my guns would be useless to me for home protection. This is what I feel I have to do to keep my family safe from guns in my home. My gut wants the gun in my bedside table. My brain tells me this is not the safest thing to do. Flame suit on.

Left Brain - 2013-02-14 9:33 AM

If you break into my house I have plenty of guns.  You are in for a rude awakening if you give me 10 minutes to get my contacts in, get down the stairs, dial the combination on the safe, take off the trigger lock, and load one of them.  If you're not out of my house by then.....I'll kill you.

Bigfuzzydoug - 2013-02-14 9:34 AM

Where's this so-called flaming you expect?  x2  MY guns are locked away.  It would take me at least a minute or two to wake up, get my wits, unlock the box, load and arm myself.  I'll take that any day over an accesible weapon in the house especially with children!  (Against the law in NC).

Simple rule any instructor wil ltell you:  Finger stays off the trigger until you're abosolutely ready to fire.  And you always positively identify your target before putting your finger on the trigger.  In this case, all it took was one simple shout out, "who's there?"

And BTW - You're guns aren't "useless" for home protection.  Unless of course you leave the door wide open.  It would take any intruder a little bit of time and a lot a bit of noise to break in.  For me, About 90 seconds to smash into the house (with the alarm going off), find their way upstairs and to our bedrooms.  Might be enough time for me to protect my family... might.

 

lisac957 - 2013-02-14 9:30 AM

Quoted for awesomeness. 
I might just make that my signature line. 

rayd - 2013-02-14 10:38 AM

I'll be sure and give you the needed 10-minute advance warning.  I'm all about fairness.

powerman - 2013-02-14 10:07 AM

That's great for you. Feel free to exercise your 2A right how ever you see fit, and I will do the same.

I'll leave my judgments of how you are doing it wrong to myself.

wannabefaster - 2013-02-14 7:38 AM I am a gun owner. A very safe gun owner. But I have to be cognizant of the dangers that having a gun introduces in to my home. I think that statistics will bear out that you are orders of magnitude more likely to have an accidental shooting of yourself or a family member than you are to ever have to use a gun for self defense (I am not going to argue about whether or not this incident was accidental). If you have a gun around to "keep your family safe" you are probably deluding yourself. Your family would be safer without this type of weapon easily accessible in the house. I have made gun safety and education about guns something that I teach my kids. But they are kids and kids do stupid things (adults too). Before you all jump on me about how safe you are with your guns, I suspect just about everyone who has had an accidental shooting happen to them would have said the same thing. My guns are not for self defense. If I could figure out a way to safely have them available as such, I would. As it is, they are locked away. Unless I knew that someone was coming well in advance my guns would be useless to me for home protection. This is what I feel I have to do to keep my family safe from guns in my home. My gut wants the gun in my bedside table. My brain tells me this is not the safest thing to do. Flame suit on.

Dan-L - 2013-02-14 11:43 AM

Isn't the death penalty for breaking into someones house a bit much?

We have burglaries in the UK a lot, obviously the vast majority occur when people are out but there is the rara occassion when they think you're out and you're not.  The surprise when they realise there is someone in the house is always enough to send them running.  They're not there to threaten the life of you or your family.

Killing someone who wants to take your TV seems a bit strong.

I think you should all replace your bullets with paint pellets.  That seems like adequate punishment (they really hurt) and the police can pick them up easier later on.

tealeaf - 2013-02-14 4:51 PM

Isn't the death penalty for breaking into someones house a bit much?

We have burglaries in the UK a lot, obviously the vast majority occur when people are out but there is the rara occassion when they think you're out and you're not.  The surprise when they realise there is someone in the house is always enough to send them running.  They're not there to threaten the life of you or your family.

Killing someone who wants to take your TV seems a bit strong.

I think you should all replace your bullets with paint pellets.  That seems like adequate punishment (they really hurt) and the police can pick them up easier later on.

I'm not one who has a gun in the home nor do I advocate guns in homes, in general ... but ...

How the heck are you supposed to know what the masked intruder's intentions are when breaking into your house? How do you know this?

Yeah, sure, someone breaks into the home of someone who has a gun, and said gun owner would say, "Well, they are probably only here to take my TV, so I won't use the weapon."

Dan-L - 2013-02-14 9:43 AM

Isn't the death penalty for breaking into someones house a bit much?

We have burglaries in the UK a lot, obviously the vast majority occur when people are out but there is the rara occassion when they think you're out and you're not.  The surprise when they realise there is someone in the house is always enough to send them running.  They're not there to threaten the life of you or your family.

Killing someone who wants to take your TV seems a bit strong.

I think you should all replace your bullets with paint pellets.  That seems like adequate punishment (they really hurt) and the police can pick them up easier later on.

Dan-L - 2013-02-14 9:43 AM

Isn't the death penalty for breaking into someones house a bit much?

We have burglaries in the UK a lot, obviously the vast majority occur when people are out but there is the rara occassion when they think you're out and you're not.  The surprise when they realise there is someone in the house is always enough to send them running.  They're not there to threaten the life of you or your family.

Killing someone who wants to take your TV seems a bit strong.

I think you should all replace your bullets with paint pellets.  That seems like adequate punishment (they really hurt) and the police can pick them up easier later on.