Airsoft gun for home defence

[callumbagshaw]

Who says the burglar has to identify as a man or woman? I for one think pan-sexual burglars shouldn't be afraid to carry out their work in the face of such persecution.

Hahahaha!

[Jedi_Master]

I remember a story about a man in South Africa who heard a burglar in his bathroom and shot him...

[AJWest]

*snip*

Whilst I agree with that whole article I would just like to pick up on the 'you have to have been directly threatened with violence' part. I'm not going to try and correct you becuase it is partly true, more of a clarification I feel. You do not have to be 'directly threatened' as you say all you have todo is FEEL threatened. What I mean by that is that if someone says "I'm going to f***ing kill you" then advanced on you with one or more hands concealed you would be well within your rights to put them on their arse until you perceived they were no longer a threat. However they don't have to say the words, if someone is advancing on you and you feel threatened you can 'defend' yourself with 'necessary and proportiante' force. It does seem like a huge loophole because most people could claim self defence for any minor fight but most people don't know this part of the law, now where this loosely ties in with this thread [trying to stay on topic slightly :L] If someone breaks into your house and you end up face to face with them you can take them on first and still claim self defence but as you said don't go overboard and you should be fine legally. I have had to use this defence at work a few times [thankfully never in my home] and it has worked everytime so don't be afraid to defend yourself/property/family, altough it sometimes seems the legal system is against us law-abiding cittizens in these situations it can work in out favour (: anywho like I said not disagreeing with you in anyway Kurtz just thought I should clear that up as it's one of the small smatterings of knowledge I have managed to tuck away and keep over the years amongst all the other nonsense

[Colonel Kurtz]

Agree good point, it doesn't have to be an actual threat, it could be you 'feeling' threatened, but unfortunately in these cases it's very easy to argue your interpretation as incorrect or biased by fear/panic/prejudice, and your response as disproportionate. I know in america you have to issue a verbal warning before performing any act of defence if you havent actually been attacked, not sure about uk, have watched more CSI than episodes of The Bill recently...

 

A lot of what i mentioned you might not get charged for something yourself, but any such detail being a question can easily force the case against your thieving crackhead to be dropped.

 

I have a similar situation of personal experience relating to the using a weapon side of things, not quite home defense as it was on the street, but location made no difference so close enough;

 

I was walking home from a friends house in the early hours over a decade ago, and got set on by a couple of crack yoot after my phone etc. I took a bit of an initial kickin, then I got a massive adrenaline dump and got to my feet and 'defended myself'. I had a video box in my hands (that i'd been watching round said friends), and without really thinking about it used this to defend myself. I left them on the floor and called the police from my mobile.

 

In the end, no charges were brought against them for a couple reasons;

 

- Firstly because i had inflicted far far more damage. I had a split lip & eye brow and few bruises/swell, but it turns out the corner of a plastic box can carve massive gouges out someones face. Legally, my use of this video box as a weapon was disproportionate as they had no weapon (i escaped being charged with assault/ using a weapon on this basis as i said i was in a total daze and didn't realize it was still in my hands). If i had struck them once, i'd been ok, but a battering doesn't count.

- Apparently would have been too easy for their defense to argue they had stopped giving me a kickin when i got up (one had started walking away, which enabled me to smash his mate in before he noticed and turned round. i'm no kungfu master who can take on 2 people paying attention at the same time), therefor making my actions an act of immediate revenge/assault not defense. Couldn't prove it either way, but enough a question to make it pointless bringing charges

 

The police aren't cunts and know what reality is better than anyone, unfortunately the tool they have (law) can leave a bit to be desired. I was given the impression the police's priority had been getting the crackheads to confess to details that would stop me being charged, i was lucky for this to have been a success, and there would have been almost no chance they'd get charged unless one had fully church-confessed. In the end, i certainly felt that i'd not received justice from UK law, but the policemen themselves had done their duty and best to keep me getting charged. Apparently If my assailants hadn't been very well known to them, and been sensible enough to make 'no comment', I'd been charged with gbh or abh or assault with a weapon or all the above.

 

So in summary, me taking a kicking isn't enough justification to use a weapon on someone, so being afraid of violence that hasn't occurred or been directly threatened probably won't cut it as a justification in court, you might get away with punching someone, once, but anything with a weapon, probably not.

[AJWest]

Agree good point, it doesn't have to be an actual threat, it could be you 'feeling' threatened, but unfortunately in these cases it's very easy to argue your interpretation as incorrect or biased by fear/panic/prejudice, and your response as disproportionate. I know in america you have to issue a verbal warning before performing any act of defence if you havent actually been attacked, not sure about uk, have watched more CSI than episodes of The Bill recently...

Totally agree with that first bit as well, you have to be very careful with the whole 'self defence' thing in the UK

[Colonel Kurtz]

Yeah if similar happens again, i'm just handing over my phone and avoiding violence in any manner, i'd also leave a burglar to rinse out my living room, perhaps shout down the stairs at them to try hurry them off to their dealer. So that's what i'd advise, back to the OP - I'd certainly say using an airsoft gun or air-rifle for 'home-defense' is totally pointless/insane.

[AJWest]

Exactly, not worth the hassle of confronting them, that's what insurance is for, if you absolutely have no choice sure try something but don't antagonise the situation and yes using an airsoft gun is pointless as it is effectively just a toy

[djben9]

I remember a story about a man in South Africa who heard a burglar in his bathroom and shot him...

was it a him....

 

hot topic.....nice as its freezing out there!

[Jedi_Master]

I remember a story about a man in South Africa who heard a burglar in his bathroom and shot him...

 

was it a him....

 

Well, IIRC, it was actually a she and the home owner didn't have a leg to stand on...

[Twice19]

I like to think my dog would honourably defend the house in the event. She growls and barks like a Hell Hound, but as soon as ANYONE steps through the door she realises she must love them!

Atleast she'd keep the burglars pinned down while she licks them half to death.

[Templar Mike]

Colonel Kurtz and AJWest have both made some excellent points here. The only thing I would add is you need to be careful, when using any object to defend yourself, about showing any signs of prior intent. For example if you have a RIF under your bed and bluff someone, but tell the police you had it under your bed "in case you needed to defend yourself", you're showing prior intent to cause harm and/or fear. You open yourself up to a whole world of potential problems there, and that goes for anything. Weapons of opportune are, as Kurtz and AJWest have said, perfectly acceptable so long as you can justify their use and that you genuinely felt that your personal safety was in jeopardy.

 

To answer the original question, not sure I would use a RIF to defend myself, unless it was to hand and I had no other options, in which case I'd use it as a club rather than trying to pretend it was real. But I can;t see any circumstances where that situation would arise to be honest.

[K@rl]

There are only three important points to (try) to remember when defending yourself/family from an intruder.

 

1) are they still in my property- never chase someone down the street then start to "defend yourself" because the threat has left and you followed it and became the attacker.

 

2) use resonable force- it's something the police and door men have been doing for years. If I find someone going through my kitchen draws and I hit them with a hammer and kill them then am getting done for manslaught. If I hear someone down stairs, call the police and they come up the stairs with a knife and I kill them that is reasonable.

 

3) never ever hit someone from behind. It will be seen as them running away or u surprised them either way it posed no risk to you.

 

Note; I don't include defending property. They can have what they like. I am insured and couldn't be doing with the hassle. Also, am sure there are people on here who will know what it's like to live with the feeling of killing someone, justified or not.

[Sacarathe]

Welcome to hearsay land folks.

[GiantKiwi]

Dear god, why is this discussion still going?

 

Do not use airsoft guns for home defence unless you want to be living in an 8x10 box for an extended period.

 

/EOD

[K@rl]

I wouldn't say it's hearsay. I do agree that using an Airsoft gun is about as stupid idea as it gets (sorry op) but home defence is somthing that the uk isn't very good at dispite the rise in some kinds of theft. Over the last few years there have been amendments to the laws covering this subject following a couple of high profile cases.