Kill vs. Murder

[MrJim]

this will serve as answer to Jim as well...

Nadiine's point was correct. There are two issues here, first is the use of force, second is the level of force to be used, or more specifically is lethal force justified.

First dealing with Lethal force. Lethal force is ONLY justified in the case of defending your life or the life of another. This is of course speaking of private citizens. With governments its another issue.

Thus Arizona is quite correct to make it illegal for you to shoot a guy who is leaving your house with your TV. The key there is that he is leaving. If a burglar is LEAVING then he is no longer a reasonable threat to your life/person. Thus you are not justified in using lethal force.

This is the issue where home owners have commonly gotten in trouble when defending their property against a burglar. They shoot a guy who is either leaving, or has already left their house. At that point he is no longer a threat and they do not have the right to use lethal force. Thus the burglar, if he survives, sues them and wins.

You do have a right to use force to protect your property, but only proportional to that which is being used upon you. Thus if a person is stealing your TV, you have a right to tackle him and subdue him, and at least in my state you have the right to put him under citizens arrest because he is actively committing a felony.

The law usually recognizes a scale of force and catagorizes certain actions at various levels. For example, some one hitting you in the chest or stomach is not considered lethal force.. but someone hitting you in the head MIGHT be. IF someone is using a weapon such as a knife, crowbar, or baseball bat.. that is lethal force. Guns obviously are as well.

Also you don't have a right to kill someone just for being in your home, even if they aren't leaving. If you come upon a burglar, you can't use lethal force until he shows signs or attempts to use force on you. Thus if you come out with a gun and the guy freezes, you can't shoot him. This is one of the reasons that deadly booby traps are illegal. You can't use lethal force just because someone is intruding on your property.

Those are all 'legal' standards, but they are based on historical precedents and legal theory, which in turn is based primarily off the biblical standard.

I was just asking for NT teaching of use of deadly force to protect my stuff...