“In these instances of justifiable homicide it may be observed that the slayer is in no kind of fault whatsoever, not even in the minutest degree; and is therefore to be totally acquitted and discharged, with commendation rather than blame.”
-Sir William Blackstone - Commentaries on the Laws of England
Plenty of bleeding hearts today would be horrified by Blackstone's words. Plenty of them are shocked when I express happiness or gratitude about the fact that an honest citizen put some violent predator six feet under. They find my callousness about the loss of life abhorrent. The way I see it, if you're living life by initiating deadly force against others you're playing Russian Roulette of sorts with your own life. If you run into an armed victim who has one in the chamber and fights back, hey, you chose poorly and the odds have finally caught up with you. Such is life. Good riddance.
If someone tries to kill or seriously harm you through no fault of your own stopping / killing your attacker is not just an appropriate response to an attack on your life, it is a net gain for society. The recidivism rate of a room temperature violent criminal with a sucking chest wound is 0%.
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7 comments:
I think the quote of the day should be:
The recidivism rate of a room temperature violent criminal with a sucking chest wound is 0%.
Small point of clarification - if the body has attained room temperature, the chest wound is probably no longer sucking.
;)
Small details Linoge ;) Besides, that wouldn't apply to Zombies now would it?
As a gun owner, for both sport and self defense, I have no illusions that using deadly force on an attacker won't be the worst moment of my life to date. After it's happened, I suspect I will vomit, and probably have nightmares. But I'll be alive to vomit and have nightmares. And the criminal will not be able to threaten and hurt anyone else.
If somebody tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back.
-Capt. Mal Reynolds.
"Liberty" and Capt. Reynolds are excellent, of course.
I'd also suggest the comment I've heard attributed to a DI during 'Nam, to a recruit who said that he didn't think that violence was the answer, and "The Army can't make me kill anyone!"
The DI said, "No, son, the Army can't make you kill anyone. What we CAN do is to give you a rifle and some training, and then send you to a place where some people are trying to kill YOU . . . and then you can use your best judgement!"
Oh, I'd say it still sucks a whole lot for the criminal. {grin}
Linoge said... (July 20, 2011 6:44 PM
Small point of clarification - if the body has attained room temperature, the chest wound is probably no longer sucking.
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