Natch.

My first thought as a German is: why would a burglar choose my appartment? Why would someone want to attack me? Seriously: many people just do not live in appartments that look so attractive to a burglar. I also have the feeling that pointing a gun at somebody increases the potential level of violence.

So, really: wouldn't it just be better to try and talk your way out? I mean, the whole question seems to suggest only one possible answer and the situation is rather made up, after all. I know that Erik has stated his political attitude a few times, and IMHO this shows in the way this question is asked.

To me as a foreigner, this entire self defense stance is quite over the top and reminds me a lot of the entire cowboy activism that seems to govern American policy as a whole nowadays, be it interior or foreign policy... And while I don't care too much about the USA's internal affairs, Dubya's foreign policy _is_ an international problem. But as far as Americans bearing firearms are concerned: kill yourselves if you have to...

Makes me think of something I read recently:

"War is God's way of teaching Americans about geography."

Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914)

Here's my answer to NSLog();'s Question of the day: " If you believed your life to be in danger, would you act in self defense, even if doing so meant harming the attacker?"

Self defense is a primal instinct, nothing you can do about it (it is s...

Please stop responding here - the question could still use answers from others.

it seems perfectly legal to shoot someone simply for attempting to burglarize my apartment or home

I realize "entering without consent" is not the same, but that was the definition I had previously heard, sorry! Anyway, if someone enters my home w/o my consent, how am I to know if they are going to burglarize me or not?

And with regard to "gun killings happen in their private home" and victim being family member, I can't find any statistics on how many that actually is, only that

In 72% of unintentional deaths and injuries, suicide, and suicide attempts with a firearm of 0-19 year-olds, the firearm was stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend

But this is of little use, and what I really wanted was hard numbers of people mistaken for burglars, not just accidental killings (which is probably much much higher, and what contribute to the high percentage).

But apparently this is not the place to ask for such info

Is it not so that you actually are allowed to kill me if I enter your apartment w/o your consent?

I've already answered that question.

And is it not so, that many gun killings happen in the private home where the victim is a family member or similar?

No, that is not true, unless you consider "many" to be about four per year nationwide. I'm exaggerating too, yes, but don't make up stuff based on what you guess to be true and try to pass it off here.

But could it not happen? Is it not so that you actually are allowed to kill me if I enter your apartment w/o your consent? and is it not so, that many gun killings happen in the private home where the victim is a family member or similar?

At least these factors are some of those which may me think that granting people right to hurt each other is not a good idea -- the courts should look mildly on people defending themselves, but I wouldn't like it if it were like, getting immunity just because the other person breaks the law.

As mentioned, there is also the problem with mentally ill people, these may attack random strangers and are more or less harmless, I'd prefer to see these get treatment rather than beaten up.

The reasons why we, in many European countries, do not grant people the right to kill or hurt each other when they feel threatened or their "rights" are otherwise violated (as in trespassing) are multiple. The attacker has rights as well, and the attack can stem from mentally illness or even that the victim did something previously to provoke the attack.

Breaking the law does not make you lawless, and that is why e.g. in Germany a burglar can sue for being attacked by a dog -- he still gets charged with the burglary though! But having the victim let a dog attack him is taking the law in your own hands, and AFAIK that is something we do not allow in most parts of Europe.

That said, of course if you end up killing someone, and had you not done so, you yourself would have lost your life, you wouldn't be punished, but there would be a trial to establish that this was really your only option.

He sued her and won (CHF 1.-) because the lady apparently should have had controll over her dog, even though she was not at home.

Heh Another friend of mine was attacked by a dog while jogging in Germany. The judge only passed a portion of the expenses (and guilt) to the dog's owner, since she did apparently tell the dog not to attack the jogger, and, well, it has to be taken into account that it was the dog's first offense.