Marauder Blue 6 said:

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Well said. I wonder what Joe Horn would say today about sticking his nose into a situation where it didn't belong, all over a few thousand dollars of his neighbor's cash.

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You could make a counter argument (as schmellba is sort of trying to do) that his nose did belong there, that we have a responsibility not just to ourselves, but our neighbors and each other to keep society as a whole functioning. You see that kind of philosophy play out in very positive ways after natural disasters, etc. It's not a philosophy I'm opposed to in a general sense. But where that line of thinking breaks down for me is on this specific issue of confronting thieves in the night.

Thieves get lit up all the time in Texas (including in your example with Joe Horn). I think we've reduced theft as much as possible already just by being an armed society. The ones still thieving are dumb enough to keep doing it no matter how many of them get shot. So I don't see any potential benefit to society as a whole outside of one less thief running around. On the flip side of that equation is the possibility of said thief shooting back at me (quite possibly armed by a neighbor leaving a gun in a car) when confronted, ending or changing my life.

I value my life and my ability to continue to be there for my family in the future more than I value a lawn mower. Or whatever I left in my car. Or the small benefit of removing another thief from the general population.

Violent encounters happen so quickly that we need to have a really solid grasp of what we consider worth dying for already burned into our brain so we don't make a stupid decision in the heat of the moment (the fellow student from the force on force class I mentioned earlier, for example, clearly hadn't put any kind of thought whatsoever into the subject). For me, what is worth dying for is my kid, my wife, my family. Keeps things simple.

+5 points for the personal attack. Hint: above advise came from a prosecutor, backed up by law enforcement. But no, I dont know anything, completely stupid advice. I bow to the all knowing schmellba.

Go ahead, get yourself in front of a jury. Brag about the fact you planned to kill someone before hand. Have fun with it, I'm sure thousands of dollars in bond, lawyer fees, and a potential murder charge is worth it.

Ag_of_08 said:

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+5 points for the personal attack. Hint: above advise came from a prosecutor, backed up by law enforcement. But no, I dont know anything, completely stupid advice. I bow to the all knowing schmellba.

Go ahead, get yourself in front of a jury. Brag about the fact you planned to kill someone before hand. Have fun with it, I'm sure thousands of dollars in bond, lawyer fees, and a potential murder charge is worth it.

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Never take legal advice from people whose sole job is to prove that you are guilty of a crime no matter what. How many times has that prosecutor been in court, realized the facts don't support the charge, stopped the entire proceeding and asked the judge to dismiss the case?

I tell people things all the time that aren't true just to scare them into compliance.

Ag_of_08 said:

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+5 points for the personal attack. Hint: above advise came from a prosecutor, backed up by law enforcement. But no, I dont know anything, completely stupid advice. I bow to the all knowing schmellba.

Go ahead, get yourself in front of a jury. Brag about the fact you planned to kill someone before hand. Have fun with it, I'm sure thousands of dollars in bond, lawyer fees, and a potential murder charge is worth it.

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It's only a personal attack if you choose to let it be. Otherwise just chalk it up to the fact that you made an abjectly stupid statement that was devoid of any form of logic or reason and as the old saying goes - stupid should hurt. Hope it hurt, because it was stupid.

And whomever "advised" you on that information - tell them I said they were fuggin stupid too. At least you'll be in a stupid group together, so there must be some solace in that aspect I suppose. Because asking a question about a scenario does not equate to "planning to kill". If it did, then hell - everything could be argued to be pre-mediated.

You bought a gun for home defense? Premeditated murder!
You looked up a legal statute to get an understanding of what the law is? Premeditated murder!
You took a handgun training class to become more proficient with your firearm? Well, obviously you only did that so you could kill people. You planned to kill people! Premeditated murder!!!
You bought something that you knew somebody might steal? You only bought that so that you could entrap somebody to trespass on your property and steal! Premeditated murder!

Do you not see just how freaking stupid that statement is?

Old Tom Morris said:

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I before E except after C and in words with A as in neighbor and weigh.

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If you only have grammar smack, kudos I guess. The horror! I was drinking whiskey, watching the Astros and killing time doing this all at the same time. Throw me in jail for misspelling a word.

With a little electrical background take a trip over to your local Tractor Supply, Runnings, Orschlen's, etc. and purchase an electric fence charger and run the hot wire from the fence charger to the handle bars or steering wheel on the mower (those parts, handle bars or steering wheel are plastic or wrapped with plastic/rubber grip = that's your insulator). If the thief wants the mower they will need to remove the "hot" wire and get the shock of their life in their attempt to remove the wire. See the link below for an understanding of the process.



If the theft continues, I'd probably graduate to having a damaged electric extension cord that is plugged into the wall socket that just happened to be laying across my mower and let the thief short out the 110/120 volt system. Have an electrician or someone with a fair amount of electrical knowledge discuss this hypothetical scenario, only because a gas tank is involved, but that's easy to work around.