I was perusing John Stossel's website this evening and I found this story about a father, a Navy vet, that works on Wall Street heard a noise in his house and went to investigate. He found a burglar in his house, so he pulled his 9mm, warned the burglar that he had a gun, and when the burglar lunged at him, shot him twice.
WAY TO GO DAD! That's the right thing to do, right? Someone is in your house, in your little boy's room, doing Lord Knows what, you defend your family! This man's a hero.
But wait...the city of New York wanted to charge this man with "owning an unlicensed gun" and throw HIM in jail for 1 year. Excuse me?
Essentially, what the city is telling us is that somehow a man beaten and robbed with his home violated is morally superior to a man with a dead criminal at his feet.
Luckily, for Ron Dixon, the father, John Stossel heard the story and made a stink, and the city reduced the charge to disorderly conduct and gave him a suspended sentence. But if it wasn't for Mr. Stossel, this man's life would have been ruined, and everything he worked for taken from him, if not first by the burglar, than by the police after he'd done the only right and moral thing that a homeowner should do when under attack.
Fight back.
Remind me to give you my business law book. There are many cases in that book that are apalling.
For instance, someone's kid was using some product in order to get high. After his son died, the man sued the manufacturer of the product and won because the company did not put a warning on the label stating that the product could cause death. Instead it stated, "Harmful if inhaled." Wouldn't a reasonable human being realize that if it is harmful to inhale that something horrible will happen to you, especially if you are using it to get high? How stupid can you be. But this is why we have stupid warning labels on packages, such as those little packets that come with your shoes that state, "Do not eat." Why would you think you are getting a snack with the purchase of your shoes? Or those warnings that tell you not to put a plastic bag over your head. Seriously, we have these stupid warning labels on packages because people have apparently eaten the contents of the packet that comes with your shoes or put a plastic bag over their head and have sued the company and won.
There are also cases where the person who was trying to defend themselves against another human being has been sued for using excessive force. It makes me wonder who the actual victim is. I'm sorry. But if you choose to rob someone then you deserve what happens to you and you should not be compensated for injury in the court of law.
Or what about those people who have saved a life but broke a few of the victims ribs while giving CPR? How could you in good conscience turn around and sue the person who saved your life just because they broke a few of your bones in the process?
We live in a pretty messed up society.