I'm not trying to start a flame-war. Honest. phaigh, this is not a personal attack against you, I just happen to disagree with your ideas. I will do my best to discuss them in a civilized manner.

Yeah, you just place that burden on a few brave people who work for the police. This is the same sort of hypocrisy with people who condemn hunting because of animal cruelty then they go to the supermarket to buy some fresh meat. You just don't want to get your hands dirty.

Ask yourself this, who do you want to uphold the law in your country - the Police force (committed, trained experts in this stuff), or Joe Public? You seem to be advocating some sort of Anarchy.

Joe Public.

By "law in the country" I take you to mean "law of the country". Until every individual makes it his or her responsibility to uphold the law of the land (not their personal laws) there can be no peace, no effective government. No matter how many trained police you throw at it, it just isn't going to work.

By this I mean that every citizen should understand and follow the law themselves, and not stand idly by as others break it. This does not mean that Joe Public can use deadly force whenever he wants, this is why specific laws are set up detailing when and where he can use deadly force.

OTOH, I think the comparison of hunting is a poor one. The two situations are nothing alike; people buy their own food because not everybody has time to hunt.

And by the way, I won't be making the life or death choice if someone breaks into my house. The thief will make that choice for himself.

No, that's incorrect. Do you think that the thief WANTS to break into your house? They obviously feel that it's worth the risk for whatever reason. You are the one pointing a gun at them, you are the one deciding if they live or die. You have the choice.

I think this is mostly covered in the example I posted above. However, YES, it WAS the choice of the thief. What he WANTS is irrelevant, I'm sure he didn't want to (actually I'm not sure, but that’s another discussion). The point of the matter is that the choice still lies with the thief.

you are the one deciding if they live or die.

Let’s turn this around. Suppose I said "You are the one deciding if you and the people you love live or die." What is The Right Thing To Do then? Should you and your family die because obviously the thief didn't want to break into your home, so he should get to do what he wants?

I'm sorry; the choice lies with the thief.