In the Twin Cities, 73-year old Gerald Haley of Coon Rapids, MN has made the news for shooting and killing a home intruder. The intruder in question was a 17-year old neighborhood kid named Anthony Parks.
This is a tragic story, and what is even more tragic is that Gerald Haley will not be charged with a crime. He should at least be charged with involuntary manslaughter or some other lesser crime. While I do not think he should do jail-time, I believe he should be punished.
It is not proper for a homeowner to shoot first and ask questions later.
I have no idea what I would do in Mr. Haley’s situation but one thing is certain: I would not shoot anyone. I own a hunting rifle but I have no bullets. If I am going to attack a home intruder, it will be with a six-foot stick or a survival knife. Possibly a coat hanger.
But to think that a homeowner has the right to shoot to kill without regard will only harbor a mindset that it is acceptable to kill people on your property. The dead boy’s step-mother goes as far as to say,
If someone walked into my door and it was dark, I would empty my clip, too. He didn’t know they were kids … or if they would shoot him. We feel really sad that this happened.
It’s not sad that this happened. It’s sad that this will happen again.
Punishing Mr. Haley may not prevent this from happening again, but it might make someone think twice before pulling the trigger.
Here is the deal. Mr. Haley has every right to defend himself. Problem is, Mr. Haley has had that gun loaded and sitting next to his bed waiting for decades to kill someone breaking into his house.
For some of these gun fanatics it is just as much about getting a chance to take out someone as it is “protecting the home.” Problem is, more often than not, a gun in the home are used for suicide, murder of a family member or murder of an innocent outside of the home way more often.
I believe the stats are something like 100,000 defensive uses by a gun each year compared to more than a million violent acts by guns in this country. And each year about 500,000 guns are stolen from people.
What does this tell us? A dog is a much better protector of the house than a gun. If you feel like your house will be broken into, get a dog. Problem with a gun is the burglar doesn’t know you have a gun until you come up on him, and you don’t know if he has a gun, too. A dog would have scared him off.
I believe it is blood lust. The NRA freaks see this guy living out an egotistical fantasy that has left our society, the fantasy that you can kill someone and get away with it.
I dugg this for you, but I wish news like this got no coverage at all…
I really wish things like this never happened, because they only encourage the NRA…
The thing that bothers me is that it isn’t clear if this Kid was carrying a gun.
If he was carrying then I guess he knew what he was getting into and we shouldn’t feel bad for him, but if he wasn’t this is a tragedy.
Private citizens with guns should have to deal with the same laws police officers do and they should have to do alot more then “feel threatened” before they shoot.
Uh oh…dunno if I wanted this one dugg. The gun freaks are going to scream for my blood.
Bottom-line: Before you take a course of action that can result in taking the life of another human being, you should at least think before you pull the trigger.
We’re taking about an old fart in the suburbs…
While Coon Rapids may have grown a great deal over the past year, I suspect turning on a light would have made the kids run off as quickly as shooting a gun.
The gunshot just killed one of them.
Uh?
Guns are a HELL of a lot cheaper than a dog & don’t need replaced every decade or so.
A stick is even cheaper than a gun. Everyone has steakknives and coathangers.
ummm? where the hell do you but your guns? a decent gun is at minimun a bill and half. whats a dog cost? if you look you’ll find one for free or next to. and sure you have to buy food regularly, kinda like bullets, gun oil, ect. unless you never practice with your gun to make sure its in good working order and you know how to use it properly.
If I’m in my bed at night and someone breaks into my home I have no clue if that intruder has a gun or not. Why would I have to wait for him to shoot me before I shoot him?
If your breaking into someone’s home then you are breaking the law. Everyone has a right to protect their property and their life. If someone is willing to break the law by breaking into your home why would you think they are not willing to go one step further and rape/murder you?
It is complete stupidity to think that Mr. Haley should be punished for protecting himself from someone who could possibly have killed him. Suggesting that people get a dog to protect their home is ludicrous, not all dogs will protect your home from intruders, not all intruders are scared of dogs and not all intruders would be hesitant to kill a dog as well. Why do you think you have the right to tell someone else how they should protect their home? What gives you the right to dictate to people their freedoms? If you don’t want to get shot and killed for breaking into someone’s home then don’t break into their home.
You don’t know what you’re talking about Joe.
I am not talking about taking away anyone’s right to bear arms, I am just saying people need to think twice before they kill someone.
How can you disagree with that?
Uh oh, did you hear that? I think there’s someone outside!
I think we should arm the High Schoolers so that homeowners think twice before firing.
I do know what I’m talking about Bongo.. I have been in a dark room with other people before. If one of those other people had a weapon in their hand how would I know? It’s the same for people breaking into my home. If I can’t see them clearly and I know they’re not supposed to be there then I am going to assume the worse, that they’re armed and capable of killing me. I’m going to defend myself. Do you really want me to ask them if they’re armed? Are they going to tell me that they have a gun and then give me the opportunity to defend myself before they fire at me?
The point is, a gun in the house is a hell of a lot more likely going to be used for suicide or murder than it is for self-defense.
How many times has your house been broken into? Why do you need a handgun if you own one? Let’s hope you don’t accidently shoot a buddy in your sleepy state next time, right?
And you got to bring up the rape and murder thing, eh, Joe? Well, the problem with a gun is the intruder doesn’t know you have a gun until you are upon him. So, while he breaks into your house, sneaks into your daughter’s room and starts raping her, your gun is useless. A dog, well, at least the dog would have alerted everyone in the house that something was up.
Seriously, everyone here is so quick to kill people. It goes back to my original point of guys living out a fantasy. If gun owners are such a responsible lot, why are about 1,000 people killed each year in gun accidents? Where do all those kids who bring guns to school each yeah get them, Joe? They get them from you, that’s who.
Did you know that if your have a gun in your house, the homicide of a household member is about 3 times more likely to occur than in homes without guns. The risk of suicide of a household member is increased by approximately 5 times in homes with guns.
People are so quick to point out the RIGHT to bear arms, the RIGHT to defend one’s property. No one brings up the RIGHT to use responsibility, though. Anyway this really boils down to criminal access to guns, doesn’t it. Why would you need a gun for self-defense in the first place, because criminals have guns, right? There is legislation out there to ensure that the old man in Coon Rapids doesn’t have to worry about killing someone, but there are still loopholes in place allowing criminals to get easy access to guns.
The background check process is a joke, anyone can go to a gun show and buy a gun and there is still no real plan for gun crime enforcement in this country? Why? Because the NRA wants to keep the gun owners paranoid, and therefore keep the guns flowing to criminals. Feels good, doesn’t it. The more you bitch about gun laws and how the left wants to get rid of the Second Amendment, the more violent criminals laugh. So keep it up guys, you sure have done a lot to get guns out of the criminals hands, haven’t you? All you’ve succeeded in doing is making the United States the most gun-violent society in the universe.
I am a gun owner, but I would never think of joining the corrupt NRA.
I see your point.
I don’t need handgun or a rifle. I own a rifle because I want to.
I am just not afraid of people breaking into my house.
And I own a big stick.
For the record, I will charge first and ask questions later.
I just will not charge with intent to kill.
I think the NRA gets it wrong by limiting their demand for weapon ownership to just guns. One of the main reasons people who own fully automatic-crazy-militia-style arms is to protect themselves from the government (at least that’s the reason I got from people in Montana where they know a lot about this sort of thing). That reason doesn’t fly anymore now that the gov has such advanced weaponry.
People need to be able to own their own WMDs. Or at least some sort of ballistic missile for when the black helicopters are followed by tanks. I’m going to take a hard line conservative stance here and say that if everyone had a nuke at there disposal then there would be no crime at all. Sure there would be the threat of mutual annihilation or even global destruction but it worked for Reagan so I expect it should work for everybody…
Now to find some plutonium. I understand Pakistan has some–I don’t think it’s advertised but I bet if I could get to Afghanistan there’d be someone there who could get me connected, I could also use a fix and they have the best shit.
To get some plutonium you will need the following:
1) Two Frisbees
2) A remote-controlled truck
3) Green shampoo
Then wait for an electrical storm to hit the lab. That should do it.
You could also agree to build a bomb for Lybian nationalists and pocket the plutonium while giving them a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts.
I would try the first route before the second, though.
When this story broke, it was about a man who shot someone on his property breaking through his garage door. As it has evolved, it has morphed into a story about an intruder in someone’s bedroom doorway.
I doubt we will ever know what REALLY happened.
If an intruder ever enters your house, then by all means defend yourself.
Just be aware that killing people is illegal and be willing to face a jury if you are taken to trial.
I don’t care how you deal with a theoretical situation, all I am saying is be ready to face the consequences of your actions.
The Sixth Commandment aside, if you kill an armed intruder, there is no court around that will send you to jail.
Are you not willing to face the consequences of your actions? I am.
Still paranoid? Install an ADT security system.
Why doesn’t anyone comment on the “Mommy Dearest” reference?
Because I don’t get it.
Click on the “coat hanger” link in the post.
NO, WIRE HANGERS!
I buy you beautiful dresses, and you treat them like they were some dishrag. You do. Three hundred dollar dress on a wire hanger.
One of the more alert 8n5ers sent me this article about home intruders:
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/515756.html
If a four-year old armed with only a plastic sword and dressed as a Power Ranger can scare away home intruders armed with guns…then you can too!
Anyone know if this kid had a gun?
Still waiting on that.
I feel for the People who seriously think anyone who breaks into their place is probably there to kill/rape/mame them. Living with that type of fear can’t be fun.
They haven’t said on the news yet.
I agree - living with fear like that must be suffocating.
Nope, no gun. The police said they found no other weapons.
Well…I discovered one more thing that changes everything:
Rumor central (student at a local high school) reports that several houses on the same block have been broken into this month with the reason that the burglars were/are teenage drug addicts.
Thus, the whole block was on edge and I would guess the reason there will be no charges filed against Mr. Haley is because the police couldn’t stop the burglaries.
Ergo, the situation has now been resolved.
If this rumor turns out to be true, then I would change my mind and say no charges should be filed.
That being said - I STILL believe you should be prepared to face a jury trial if you shoot and kill someone.
i think the law allowing you to shoot intruders without knowlage of them having a weapon should be abolished. if you have time to realize someone is breaking and get your gun then you have time to lock your bedroom door and call the cops. to me the choice between buying a deaddbolt and locking my door versus killing someone isn’t really that tough. i got to agree with czech. a lot of these people are itching to kill.
I think the law says you have to “fear for your life”… So the prosecutor must think he could prove this, and any further legal action wouldn’t work. I find it funny that every one roots for a 91 year old woman when she kills some cops but, No one like 73 year old man who just shoots normal criminals…
in my defense i always root for cop killers.
Hello, McFly??
Cops only use lethal force if they “see” a weapon on a person. Yes, they make mistakes-but why should the rules be any more lax for a homeowner with a gun.
Do you gun toting owners believe that the cops should be able to kill anyone or shoot someone if they are doing something illegal?
Why not just install an automatic machine gun nest by the front door and garage. If it senses movement, it goes off?
This just reinforces my original bias that these loons are paranoid blood thirsty criminals-they are just looking for an opportunity.
The first thing you do, is shine a light in the eyes of the attacker. (Don’t tell me you survival people don’t have a flashlight). Next, you stay out of their line of fire-behind a corner (if they have a weapon), and you tell them to get down, hands behind them. If they fail to do it, or if they reach for something, or if more intruders come in-then you take action.
If homeowners adopt a shoot first, kill later approach. What do you think a criminal will do? Escalate. huh..just throw in a bottle of mustard gas. Two minutes later, everyone inside is dead. You lose. And we can rename US to another provence in Iraq.