Thieves could go free while victim faces jail time

[General Zod]

the old man said that people have been coming onto his property and he couldn't afford a fence.

But he could afford a gun and live ammo.

Fences can cost several thousand dollars for the materials alone; more if you can't install it yourself and need help. A rifle? Couple hundred bucks at Walmart. Apples and oranges here.

[Coyote]

the old man said that people have been coming onto his property and he couldn't afford a fence.

But he could afford a gun and live ammo.

My Glock pistol: $400.00
Box of 9mm: $20.00

The fence I had installed on my property last year: $3500.00

Put down the crack pipe and step away from the lava lamp.

[Lord MJ]

I think you will find that most people would support the shooter rather than the thieves, and take offense to the notion that the thieves lives are more important than his hard earned property.

Given that the attitude of many is that the single most smallest interest of oneself takes priority over the largest most important interest of somebody else, espescially if that someone else is some random guy that's stealing form you, many people would find absolutely nothing wrong with giving a thief a dirt nap in order to protect their property. The value of their own property is worth more to them than other people's lives.

In fact I would think that most people would value their property above the lives of random people that aren't stealing their property. At least in that case there is no shooting involved.

[Kanastrous]

I think that fact that the thief is actively and deliberately fucking over the property owner has a lot to do with it.

Ask someone if they would choose to save their car when it's say, rolling off a cliff versus saving a human being about to fall - I suspect that most people would prefer to save the human being.

Ask the same people if they would choose to let a car go rather than shoot the thief trying to drive off in it, and you will probably find more people assigning greater value to the car - because of the decision the thief made, to try and fuck them over by stealing it.

Of course the thief's treatment of their victim is going to color that person's perception of the value of the thief. And the perceptions of people who tend to sympathize more with the victim, than with the perpetrator.

[Sky Captain]

It's nice to know there are really people out there with the moral sense of a sociopathic caveman.

Yes, I admit I'm speaking a bit biased, maybe because I just fucking hate when some random street thug just comes and in few minutes takes away something I worked for months to buy.
One of my friends once had a motorcycle stolen he saved money for about a year. When he told about the theft it basically freaked me out that some random excuse for a human being just came, cut the lock, hotwired it and drove away. Had it been my motorcycle it probably would have been parked under my balcony and if I spotted the thief trying to steal it my first impulsive reaction would probably be WHAT!!! you are trying to steal MY motorcycle that took about a year of hard work to buy, eat this 15 kg flowerpot or whatever heavy item lying on my balcony .

Objectively I know a motorcycle or TV isn't worth the persons life, but when I think someone deliberately coming, breaking into my property and taking away something that took months of hard work to buy it makes my blood boil.

[Kanastrous]

In fact a pair of bicycle thieves found themselves facing the business end of my Remington 870, back when I lived in Burbank. On a second floor balcony. I will allow as I had to give them an 'A' for effort. Of course my intention was not to fire unless necessary, and fortunately for everyone nobody decided to do anything to make it necessary.