What if what he wants is to kill you?

I am amazed whenever this old saw comes up.  A Chicago woman was assaulted by a man with a knife and defended herself with her own concealed carry gun according to a report at The Federalist. Apparently, Think Progress was furious that she did this stating "The penalty for theft is not death, nor do we want it to be." As the post at The Federalist notes:

Ford’s logic concludes that a woman must first determine the motives of her attacker before she has the right to defend herself.

David Codrea put this more succinctly as "What if he wants to kill you?" I first encountered this line of reasoning when I purchased my first gun for home defense. I was at lunch with a county prosecutor and told him about it. He informed me that if I shot an intruder in my home, he would have to prosecute me on the grounds that the penalty for theft is not death.

One imagines that the law therefore expects a home invasion to go something like this:

Mrs PolyKahr: Wake up! I hear someone downstairs moving around.

Me: Ok, call the police. I will go down and find out what he wants.

Me going down stairs.

Me again: Hello? Who's there?

Bad Guy: Why, yes, my name is BG, and I am here to steal your small screen television set and stereo system (this was 1977 remember.)

Me: Oh, good. Just wanted to make sure you didn't intend to hurt us, just steal our stuff.

BG, pulling a revolver out of his belt: Say, now that you mention it, I didn't want any loose ends. I am just going to shoot you. (Keep in mind that BG here isn't a deep thinker, and hasn't played a number of different scenarios out in his mind.)

Bang bang, as his gun goes off.

 Now, that is the ideal where you may not defend yourself unless and until you have first ascertained his intentions, preferably in writing.  Not very satisfying, is it?  On this basis you are screwed, either way, and the criminal may or may not get justice.  But this is not how a self dense situation works out in real life.  In real life, you are the first responder, and it is up to you to make the split second decisions that will determine if you breathe another day in this life or not.

Good luck!