FL Police Tip: Don't Shoot Just Because you see a Gun

Image courtesy of wftv.com

The indoctrination of police against the Second Amendment needs to be reversed.  It is costing lives and treasure.  It was not always so. 

Under long standing precidents in American, and before that, English law, a person’s home is their castle, which may be protected against intruders.  If a person may not use force to protect their home, they no longer really own it.

In a recent case in Florida, police went to the wrong house on a domestic call at 1 in the morning.  From wftv.com:

The man, who asked to not be identified, said he awoke to someone banging on the front door of his Belhaven Falls Drive home shortly before 1 a.m. When he asked who it was, he got no response.

Fearing a burglar was at the door, the homeowner grabbed a gun.

When he returned, he said he saw a bright light shining through the glass of his front door and he heard someone outside holler “gun.”

That’s when bullets started flying.

Fortunately, no one was hit, though extensive damage was done to the house, with bullet holes in the door, walls, furniture, and appliances.

Image courtesy of wftv.com

It is prudent and reasonable to have a gun in your hand when answering the door to unexpected and unknown visitors, especially in the early morning hours before sunrise.  In this case, the homeowner says that he never fired a shot.

There is no excuse for police to shoot at a homeowner simply because they are armed when answering the door. 

It has happened before, with fatal results.

In 2011, Jose Guerra was shot and killed when police saw that he was armed s the were breaking into his home in Tucson, Arizona.  They recently settled for 3.4 million.  Guerra never fired at police, either.

Police are learning from the mistakes made in cases like that of Jose Guerra.  

In many departments, training has changed to move away from equating seeing a gun with the command to fire.

Police are being taught to use their lights and the public address system on their car to identify themselves before knocking on a door.  They are taught to differentiate between a man with a gun and a man threatening them with a gun.

Both officers in the Ocoee case are on admin leave while an investigation is accomplished.  The investigation is being done by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, not by the Ocoee Police Department.

Family handcuffed and removed from house while an police searched it and investigated.  They were allowed back in after 10 hours.

If the department and city are smart, they will immediately offer to pay for damages and apologise to the homeowners.  They were in the wrong place, and the homeowner was fully within his rights, even if he pointed his gun at the door.

In the United States, a person’s home is still their castle.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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