Most people agree that a homeowner has got an intrinsic right to protect himself in his home if attacked - but the case of Joe Horn sparked a furious debate whether that right extended to shooting unarmed burglars in the back:
Moments later, Horn saw two burglars leave his neighbor's house, one of them carrying a bag filled with cash and jewelry.
"I'm gonna kill him," Horn said. "Stay in the house," the dispatcher said. "They're getting away," Horn replied. "That's all right," the dispatcher said. "Property's not worth killing someone over. OK?" "---damn it," said Horn, who then defied the dispatcher.
"Well, here it goes, buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking, and I'm going," he said.
"Don't go outside," the dispatcher warned.
Self-Defense? Horn says he came out his front door, down his porch and confronted the two burglars. The next sounds heard on the 911 tape are Horn ordering the two men to stop & and then shooting them both.
"Move you're dead," he said, and fired his shotgun three times.
"Both suspects were shot in the back," Pasadena Police Captain A.H. "Bud" Corbett said. "Not at the same angle, but both suspects were hit in the back."
The Texas grand jury cleared him for the killing, citing the "Castle Doctrine" that gives Texans unprecedented authority to take action against intruders: Link
Do you think what Joe Horn did was justified?
I'm not some wild-eyed liberal, and I even have a carry permit. I grew up in Arkansas, where I hunted small game from a very young age. I also served a military tour of duty, and I still practice to keep my marksmanship at an acceptable level. But having a gun should not be an excuse to go looking for a fight. As for my reaction to all of this, I prefer the original laws, and an assailant will have to break my door down or crash through a window before I start shooting. And I might die for hesitating, but I intend to voice a warning before I pull the trigger.
"Property isn't worth killing for", says who? The crooks obviously didn't think "property isn't worth getting killed for."