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Protecting your property


Longrange454

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The hypothetical that usually comes to my mind is: I hear a noise outside of my home. I come out to investigate and see someone has already smashed the window of my car and is attempting to start it so that they can drive it away. I draw my gun and tell him to stop or I will shoot. He stops, raises his hands in the air and starts backing away. It seems that under current law I can really do nothing more than watch him leave and report this to the police, and my insurance company. Similarly, I envision hearing someone breaking a window in an attempt to enter my home, and the burglar sees me approaching with a gun, and backs away from the window, outside of my home, and keeps backing away. Since he clearly is not presenting a threat at that moment, and is not in or about to get in to my home, again I can do nothing legally other than watch him waltz away with a big smile on his face, secure in his knowledge that I cannot shoot him. I almost can imagine how frustrating either of these scenarios would be to actually have happen.

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The hypothetical that usually comes to my mind is: ... I draw my gun and tell him to stop or I will shoot. He stops, raises his hands in the air and starts backing away. ...

Hypothetically, you started breaking the law when you threatened to use lethal force against a non-lethal crime that wasn't even an attack. Pointing a loaded weapon (or anything the mythical reasonable person would reasonably believe is a loaded weapon) at someone who is not a lethal attacker is assault with a deadly weapon. (Interestingly, that's a misdemeanor in Illinois law. There's probably room there for a legal brandishing argument in some other hypothetical case.)

 

Threatening to shoot establishes intent to kill or seriously injure.

 

Actually shooting is murder (if you kill him, intent having been established, although intent could probably be inferred without the verbal announcement, anyway), attempted murder (if you shoot him, but don't kill him), or at least felony assault.

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