Besides, I think the "I would be out of a job" statement is a lame excuse; mr. Dixon *knew* he was breaking the law by owning an unlicensed gun. If he's going to lose his job because of it, well, that's his own fault -- he should have thought of that before he decided to keep an unlicensed gun in the house.
Actually, unless I missed it in the original article (certainly possible), it was not stated whether Dixon found out that the lawyer who was supposed to handle his gun paperwork went out of business before or after this incident, and if before, how long before. Also, it's possible that even if he knew, a judge or jury might find that he took "reasonable steps" to attempt to register his gun, depending on how long he knew it was unlicensed before the shooting (if he knew for a week, they would be much more lenient that if he knew for a year).
If he knew for an extended period of time before the attempted burglary that his gun was unlicensed and took no steps to correct that, he deserved to be punished for that.
I also note that the article didn't say whether the burglar was armed. If he wasn't armed, then I would probably also support charges against mr. Dixon for attempted manslaughter.
In many or most jurisdictions within the U.S., if there is an intruder in your home and you "feel threatened," you are legally justified in killing that person even if they are unarmed. In a darkened house, very often it's hard to tell for certain. As others have mentioned, the general idea is "if someone's breaking in, shoot and kill them, and if they are in the doorway, make sure they fall *inside* the house."
I only wonder if the burglar is going to follow tradition and sue mr. Dixon for shooting him...
That's the part that makes the least sense in all of this. If you feel threatened, you can shoot the intruder. If you kill them (with a properly licensed gun) then everything is ok. If you don't kill them, they can sue you. I've never understood that.
Reggie Bautista
_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
_______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
