Pelican Parts Forums - How do you Americans react to this ?

Quote:

Originally posted by Super_Dave_D
You gotta love this

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288737,00.html

Texas State Lawmaker Opposing Deadly Force Bill Shoots Would-Be Thief

HOUSTON — A state lawmaker who opposed a bill giving Texans stronger right to defend themselves with deadly force pulled a gun and shot a man he says was trying to steal copper wiring from a construction site, police said Monday.

Rep. Borris Miles told police he was fixing a leak on the second floor of the Houston house he's building Sunday night when he heard a noise downstairs and saw two men trying to steal the copper. After Miles confronted the pair, one of the men threw a pocketknife at him, Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties.

Miles, a former law enforcement officer, shot the man in the left leg, police said. The wounded suspect was being treated at a Houston hospital. Police were trying to identify the other suspect.

Charges of aggravated robbery are pending against the wounded suspect, Senties said.

Police said Miles, who is in his freshman term, is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. No charges have been filed against Miles, Senties said.

Miles, a Democrat, voted against a bill that gives Texans stronger legal right to defend themselves with deadly force in their homes, vehicles, and workplaces. The so-called "castle doctrine," passed by the Legislature this year, states that a person has no duty to retreat from an intruder before using deadly force. The law goes into effect Sept. 1.

He was foolish for shooting the burglar in the leg. If you don't have enough fear for your own life to use deadly force, you should not fire your gun. Now the burglar will probably bankrupt Miles with a lawsuit. And if Miles was working on his own house, he does not need a CCW to have a gun with him, so that tidbit is totally irrelevant in the article.