Who and how many is not the issue

Some of you may be beginning to notice postings on other blogs about this issue of how homeowners can treat or should be able to treat burglars. Things like how this is only on the agenda because a rich white man was killed during a break-in or how the current calls by some for a change or clarification of the law should be addressed by mentioning the fact (not withstanding any increase in hot burglaries) that burglaries are actually dropping.

I think that this reveals some negative prejudice in these commentators. Firstly, it reveals their belief that those bringing up the issue are overly concerned with the makeup of the victim without providing anything but very loose and highly improbably circumstantial evidence.

Secondly it implies that the rights of victims and of burglars should in some way be dependent upon the number of burglaries that are committed each year.

I don’t recognise either of these two points as significantly legitimate with respect to what the correct legislation should be. Poor black victim, rich white victim, one hot burglary a year, five million hot burglaries a year.

The legitimacy of a homeowner’s method and intensity of resistance or retaliation is not and should not be dependent on those issues.