Is this the way to treat a Mugger?

[craven]

ok, you have supported a number of my threads so i will bite here, in my opinion and i am a european please remember so we dont carry guns, well unless we are invading countries in support of our transatlantic cousins!! NO, he should not have carried a gun.

to have pulled a gun and as you say given the mugger a toe tag would have only resulted in expanding the cycle of violence, as one of three things would have realistically resulted from him drawing a gun, namely:

1) he shot dead the mugger, the news of this is circulated and all other muggers therefore feel a need to either shoot first or at least strike first to ensure that they get their hits in before their would be victims can also give them a toe tag (delightful euphonism by the way)

2) as a result of him drawing a weapon a struggle resulted and the mugger gained the upper hand, and would therefore be left with no option but to stab him, so as to ensure his own safety, not saying this is right but lets face it self preservation does not always follow the moral codes of society

3) upon drawing the weapon a struggle ensues and they both end up killing each other

i know that this may sound a bit liberal and let all criminals off the hook, however if one carries a weapon, at some point there could be a need to use it, and whilst i dont have the stats for gun carriers (in europe we dont shoot each other, we are a lot more determined to be honest, if we want to kill someone we have to kick them to death, which takes a lot more effort) but those that carry knives (we do have a problem with knife crime) are more likely to end up as victims of this crime that those that dont,

i dont think i would go so far as the guy did, but i would not risk my life or the life of another for something as trivial as some money

[Thorne]

Okay, this is all well and good, but this type of outcome is so rare as to be almost ridiculous. The victim managed to get the one mugger in the city with a conscience? Lucky day!

Now, what about the mugger who demands your wallet then, after you give it to him, shoots you anyway so you can't identify him? This happens far more often than the incident shown here. Are you willing to risk your life on the remote possibility that your mugger will be Mr. Nice Guy?

Any person who pulls a weapon and threatens someone with it is, by definition, a criminal and is therefore acting outside the strictures of society. Why should we feel the need to endow such a person with the safeties that society provides? By my standards he's already forfeited those safeties.

If I have a gun and he threatens me with a knife I will pull the gun and threaten him in return, with the hope that he will run off like the coward he seems to be. If he tries to attack me with that knife, or if he has a gun of his own, I will shoot. And I will shoot to kill. I would rather take the chance on going to trial, alive, than hope that he isn't going to kill me anyway.