I just watched a part of some half-brain-dead-american-TV show were they showed "brave" actions during robberies (most of the caught on security cameras). Some were armed, some were not, but every clip ended in alomst the same whay, with the robber, chased away, caught or dead!
The most disturbing clip was a clerk shooting a robber who was "unarmed" (he had an unloaded gun, or that's atleast what the commentator claimed) the clerk was praised by the commentator beacuse he noticed that the gun wasn't loaded and shot him. So were's the mentality in this, someone killing an "unarmed" man, getting away with it and being praised for doing it.
You could look at it from another point of view and focus on how the robber threatend the clerk with a firearm. But does being threatend with your life give you the right to take another life? especially in this case were the threat wasn't rational.
Manslaughter is manslaughter even if the person who is killed commits a crime to get into that situation!
Another clip from the same show showed a kid trying to rob a store. The clerk paniced, threw the kid over the desk and sprayed him with pepperspray, whitch resulting in the kid running away with his tail between his legs. He got a concussion + heaps of pepperspray in his face/eyes.
The kid was armed with a handgun.
The last clip I saw showed a robber trying to rob a small family store with a pump-action shotgun. The owner chased him away with a broom or something, and thats really ok.
The thing that annoyed me in the clip was the commentator why mouned on about how dangerous the situation was. It wasn't dangerous for anyone exept the robber who wasn't prepeared for resistance. He didn't come there to kill anybody, neither was he prepeared to kill anybody.
You do not fight back a gunman whos pointing a 12 gauge shotgun at you with a broom! Do it and your dead in the blink of an eye. (Incase the gunman is capable of killing a human being)
These clips were of course shot in theblessed land of guns: The United Aates Of America, were every kid, granny and doctor owns 3 firearms. Not to mention the loose laws concerning manslaughter.
Neither the clerk in the first clip, nor in the second got any punishment for what they did. Here in Finland they would probably have recieved something like:
#1: 9-12 year imprisonment for manslaughter.
#2: 0-6 years imprisonment for serious assult. (carrying a pepperspray is illegal up here, unless you have special permission to do so. They are more or less classified as firearms)
Case #2 is very discussable imo. as the kid didn't get that injured. And it could have ended pretty badly if the kid was desperate enough.
Case #1 is definitely not discussable, killing an unarmed man is definitely manslaughter.
Case #3 is just there to illustrate what kind of consequenses this kind of shows can have when people doesn't understand their situations.
Should one be allowed to actually kill or severly injure someone whos threatening one?
How severly injure. Everything from pusing over someone to punshes/kicks/attacks against the back and the head?
If not, what should you be allowed to do to protect yourself?
Armlocks, are they any good? to which extent?