For me it is not about fear of the legal system, even though that is how I started my warning to TAB concerning his public rant and its potential repercussions, as it is a moral standard of right and wrong. I cannot find it in me to go outside to confront and kill someone over the theft of stuff.
Just because you confront, does not in itself mean you're going to be forced to kill. That is up to the perp. While it is a realistic possibility it could escalate to that, it's doubtful that it would. The only reason it would, is if the thief is willing to do bodily harm to you in order to continue his crime. Most thieves seize on opportunity. They carry burglary tools, not guns. They are not armed robbers. They strike from the shadows, where they think there will be the least, or zero resistance. Or be identified.
If you are going to bring morality into it,
it is morally wrong to steal, period. If you are morally opposed to theft, you have the obligation to stop it. I'm not saying that the police should not be called. However, as is always said, when seconds count, police are just minutes away. If in that time the thief gets away, it's highly unlikely he will be found and prosecuted, and your possessions returned. It just isn't that high on the list of today's overloaded, under funded police departments. Also, with todays poor economy, many police departments have response times that are off the chart for these type of crimes. The thief will have your stuff fenced and sold by the time they get around to you.
Moral and financial reasons, as well as common sense, would tell me that armed confrontation is not only necessary, it is the right and proper thing to do. If more did, it would without question reduce crime. As I stated in an earlier post, what would have happened in Ferguson the night the verdict was read, if the police shot the first 3 looters they saw? As Jeff Cooper once stated, "85% of all bad guys just
hate being shot."