Over at Robbs:
Alan:”That’s why deadly force is always a last resort. You only use it when the only alternative is that you or yours die.
(Or if you’re in Texas, sumdude is running off with your bigscreen.)”
Tam:”I thought that was only after dark? Or is it hubcaps after dark? Something like that… ”
Alan: “It’s cheerleaders TPing your trees you can shoot after dark. ”
Its a wonder there’s any crime in Texas!
Of course there also isn’t a wide spread epidemic of people shooting pranksters or other likely-innocent rapscallions in Texas.
Of course those of us who carry guns know that just HAVING the means to kill doesn’t somehow add a desire to kill. Further one of the cores of military training is to mentally prepare soldiers to kill, because even in a combat theater with full-auto weapons soldiers are reluctant to kill.
Shooting is ALWAYS the last resort. Of course the antis say blood will run in the streets. Reality is why they’re always wrong!
Amazing, isn’t it? Yeah, you can actually use deadly force here to stop the commission of a felony if you believe you cannot otherwise recover the property (or some such law-speak) and “in the night-time” seems to make all pranksters potential goblins. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t end up in jail since the term “defense of prosecution” is usually used and that usually means get a lawyer. That and the castle doctrine here doesn’t apply to those situations, either. Still, there is a lot of leeway for use of deadly force and it still isn’t the wild west.