From: "Tim Jeffreys", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>If you lawfully hold a firearm for, say, shooting deer, there is absolutely
nothing wrong in using it for self defence in the home PROVIDED that:
It is the minimum force required in the circumstances.
It is proportional to the perception of the threat at the time.
The full circumstances are such that it is reasonable.
Let me state an example.......
You come face to face with an intruder, who is armed with a knife and
threatens you with it. You are able to reach your firearm, and in turn,
threaten the intruder with it, who surrenders and is arrested by the police.
(yes, your initial actions are an arrest, I know.)
No problem.<
Lets examine this scenario, under the presumption that if my firearms are
kept to the conditions on my firearm certificate, which states on the
certificate, in Para. 4(a) ;
The firearms and ammunition to which the certificate relates must at all
times (except in the circumstances set out in paragraph (b) below) be stored
securely so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, access to
the firearms or ammunition by an unauthorised person.
Unless shooting/detaining burglars is covered by <some other purpose
connected with its use> from the said paragraph (b), then it may be assumed
that if said firearms are not locked away, then I am not keeping them to the
conditions of the certificate.
So, enter baddy, with dishonest intent; householder awoken by noises other
than those of his lodger's snoring and flatulence.
Does he open the locked bedroom door to investigate, lie there listening to
the house being trashed, or start preparing a rifle?
If he opts for staying put until the locked door is forced, by the time the
gun safe keys have been retrieved, dropped, retrieved again, inserted into
the wrong keyholes, inserted into the right keyholes, the door clanked open,
the ammunition locker keys dropped, retrieved, replaced in the lock, some
ammunition scrabbled out of a box and chambered in one of a pile of falling
rifles....
Does he shout "Go away, I must warn you I'll be armed in a minute... (oh
bugger, I've dropped the keys again)"
Does this sound like a readily available form of self defence in the home?
>Now.....if you take your firearm and shoot the intruder in circumstances
where a warning was not given, although it would have been possible and
reasonable to do so, then a court hearing will result. Proportionality comes
into the calculation.
Now if it is dark.......you cant see a weapon........you are
terrified...........
Its not an easy call to make, is it.<
Does a minute's clattering around constitute a warning? Personally for the
above reasons I wouldn't regard my firearms as a viable self defence at
short notice.
On the other hand the deactivated sten is a handy ugly looking lump of
metal, and some of the old replicas might be convincing in the dark if the
burglar was unarmed and none too bright.
Tim
--
Actually I've come to the conclusion myself that a really loud
blankfirer is quite good for self-defence, because in a small room
when you aren't expecting the noise it can cause disorientation.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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