Let's say a burglar has broken into your home- when, by law, would you have a right to hit them with a bat?

Question

The burglar has broken in, without realising you are at home- can you hit him any time you wish, or are you only allowed to do so in certain circumstances- eg, after he touches your property.

How about if you shot him with a tranquilising dart? Would that change your scope of action at all?

Answer 1

I don't really care what the "law" says - you can quibble about semantics all day long and in the time it takes to think about it you're dead. If a burglar comes in my home and I am here he is dead. Period. And why would the law be involved anyway? I don't use guns, so there would be no noise to alert nosy neighbors that something had happened. I use swords and crossbows. I have an eighty pound pistol crossbow near the bed and two swords, long and short. I would strike from the darkness, from cover, and I wouldn't care if I struck from behind. If it wasn't a silent crossbow bolt thru his skull it would be a katana blade thru his torso. After he was dead I would bury the body in the backyard where I am concealed by a high privacy fence, fix the window or door, and go about my business the next day like nothing had happened. Oh, and I would loot the body for cash. Yeah I support rights for criminals - rights, lefts, right uppercuts, left jabs, etc.

Answer 2

OK here is the law, there are 2 parts:

If somebody has broken into your home and it is obvious they know the seriousness of their offence, you may hit them with a bat. You must be convinced they know they have broken and entered, not just accidentally wondered on to your property. You are entitled to use ‘reasonable force’ to incapacitate the criminal – then you must call the police immediately.

A reasonable strike to incapacitate an intruder would be say, to smash them in the head hard with a baseball bat or a frying pan for example. Continuing to hit them or ‘break their arms and legs’ when it’s obvious they cannot get up is assault and battery and could see you face prison yourself.

A single hit is permitted even if they are on their way out, to stop them so the police can arrive. If the courts ask why you hit them on the way out, say they weren’t leaving, they will believe you over the criminal any day!

The second point is if they have a weapon or say they have and are threatening you – you then have the right to beat them enough to knock them unconscious or even shoot them in the head if you have enough belief that they will seriously harm you.
If you shoot them with no threat of being attacked yourself, or not enough, you could face man slaughter charges.

Answer 3

In the State of Tennessee the claim of 'self defense' is not recognized. Striking someone with a bat, injection of any substance by compressed air discharged delivery system,
whatever, all are subject to same legal redress had person
commited a crime or not. Defense wounds from warding off lethal assault is grounds to excuse resistance. Other USA States have differing laws that regard 'self defense'. I'm
not presently east of the Mississippi River, sleep with 9mm, but favor 20 gauge using three buck at under two yards to liquidate home invasion; I'll mop the mess after paperwork.

Answer 4

Fortunately, for the burglar that is, you are only allowed to use reasonable force. I think hitting him with a bat would not, in court, anyway be deemed as reasonable. However, the best course of action would be, after you hit him with the bat, to break his arms, and dump him far away from your home. At least he wouldn't be able to burgle anyone else, well not straight away anyway.

Answer 5

With due respect to local laws, I'd whack the sum-na-b*tch out of the ball park. Whoa baby, get out the peanuts and crackerjacks.

Dial 911, put the phone down and scream as your hitting for center field. Say things like get off me, please don't kill me with that bat, I gave you my money why won't you leave, or anything along those lines. Things like that play real good on tape during a jury trial. You'll get off scott free, no jury could blame you for protecting yourself.

Anyone busting into my house is fair game, that's the chance they take when they break into peoples houses. If your worried about him suing you for hitting him, hey dead men tell no tales. It would be your word against his and he wouldn't be talking.

As far as tranquiliser darts go, they don't work as fast as they appear to work on TV. They can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes to put down an animal. A scared and pissed off intruder could do a lot of damage in that amount of time.

In any case as they say,"It's best to be judged by 12, than carried by 6."

Answer 6

There are certain laws in the UK which in my opinion protects the criminal rather than the person who has been burgled ,but I can promise any potential burglar,if they break into my home or hurt my family,they will not walk away, they will be carried away.There are certain points on the body which if they are hit with not too much effort, they will hit the deck.

Answer 7

Apparently we have no rights at all in our own home. We can be arrested for hitting the burglar, and the burglar can sue for damages...isnt this ludicrous!!!!! I do know that, if you can get the burglar outside, then you would be free to hit them and say that it was self defence.
If someone came into my home un-invited with criminal intent, I would not think twice about hitting them in order to protect my family and home.....sod the law in that respect!

Answer 8

Thanks for the huge long winded rant against Christianity. You have distinguished yourself as an intolerant and ignorant person who used this forum to spout off. You know absolutely nothing of scripture and twist words to suit YOUR opinion. Even your question is based on a false premise and total lack of knowledge concerning laws. By the way, as an example, could you tell me where Jesus taught about masturbation? I've been studying the Bible for years. I missed that one. And where does it say that divorcees can't marry? And finally, just for the sake of brevity, WHAT ON EARTH IS.......FORNIFICATION?

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I would just shoot him...easier, and you don't have to get so close.

As far as hitting him is concerned, first call 911 and tell them there is an intruder in your home and you are alone. Then yell that you have called the cops, tell him to get away from you, and then hit him all you want while screaming "Get off me! Get off me!"

No jury in the world will convict you if this is on tape with the police.