Assault charges dropped against Lindsay Ontario man who confronted home intruder

[u/DoYouGetSarcasm]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/lindsay-ontario-mcdonald-charges-withdrawn-9.7106757

[u/DoYouGetSarcasm]

Fucking finally.

[u/GabRB26DETT → u/DoYouGetSarcasm]

Absolutely should not have taken so long. This is specifically why laws need to be written.

What is it going to take for Canadians to be able to defend their homes from invaders and criminals ?

Edit : seems like some of you think I dream of just grabbing a 12ga for the first intruder no questions asked only to protect my TV. I absolutely don't. Y'all don't have any families though ? How are you supposed to know an intruder(s) intentions ?

[u/Cager_CA → u/GabRB26DETT]

You'll first need to convince millions of Liberal Canadians that yes....my $5,000 PC or my $1,000 television is in fact worth more than the life or well being of the person breaking into my house and trying to steal it.

Right now they think a criminal getting seriously injured or killed trying to steal your property is a travesty and that human life is more valuable than your personal possessions and you shouldn't want to defend them because insurance etc.

[u/The_King_of_Canada → u/Cager_CA]

...no. its not.

Your possessions are not worth a human life.

[u/nineshotwonder → u/The_King_of_Canada]

So how am I supposed to know that the guy breaking into my house doesn't value my possessions more than my life? What's actually stopping the guy already actively committing a crime from committing another while they're at it?

[u/ultragigasimp → u/nineshotwonder]

You never know what the intention of someone breaking into your house is. Sure, it might just be to steal your TV and PS5. But what if they want to do something worse than steal? That’s what I’m more worried about. 

Richard Ramirez (The Nightstalker) used to go around seeing if doors were left unlocked at night, going inside if they weren’t locked, then killing the residents and leaving.

[u/The_King_of_Canada → u/nineshotwonder]

The fuck? Because its a couple of years in prison for breaking and entering and 20 for murder.

Thats like saying oh that guy was speeding so i killed him because if he is already breaking one law why wouldn't he break another.

Your argument makes no sense.

If someone breaks in call the police grab a pump action shotgun, shout the police are on the way and i have a gun then rack a shell but dont shoot him for running away with your tv. Thats what youre supposed to do.

[u/nineshotwonder → u/The_King_of_Canada]

If jail time was enough of a deterrent to everybody, people wouldn't be breaking and entering in the first place.

I'll admit, the second part of my comment was worded poorly. Rather, what is stopping someone actively committing a violent crime against my property from escalating that into a violent crime against me. I understand the difference in jail time, but again, if that were enough of a deterrent, we wouldn't be here in the first place.

Intent is the hardest thing to determine in a defense scenario. That said, if someone is in the process of running away, TV in hand or not, they're making it pretty damn clear they have no intent to harm me or anyone near me. It's that initial part of the break in where it's really hard to tell if that person is there just to steal something or is there to harm me or my loved ones. Or if they're there to steal my TV, and they decide that yeah, it is worth killing the the guy that owns it.

Also, given that brandishing a weapon is against the criminal code, grabbing a pump shotgun and racking it is also not what you're supposed to do. Your solution just replaces one crime with another.

Edit: It's a 5 year sentence for brandishing, and clearly jail time isn't enough of a deterrent.

Edit²: It would likely fall under Careless use of a Firearm, which is only 2 years for a first offense. 5 Years for second and subsequent. Still clearly not enough of a deterrent