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Another example of things that have a value far beyond their monetary worth:

My wife wears her Grandmother's wedding ring. The same grandmother who raised her as a little girl until she started school. The same grandmother who she was always very close to, and the same grandmother who my (now) wife was a caretaker for when she was stricken with Alzheimer's disease.

Not long before Polly finally had to be institutionalized, and she was pretty far gone, my (now) wife was caring for her as well as going through a divorce and having a generally hard time herself. One day, in an increasingly rare moment of lucidity, Polly suddenly got very clear and focused, turned to my (now) wife, looked into her eyes and said, "What about Byron? You always loved him," and then faded back away into the fog.

My (now) wife and I had known each other and been friends on and off for years, never even considering getting together ourselves.

That ring is not very fancy, and isn't worth very much intrinsically. But no insurance in the world could ever replace it.

E.Marquez wrote:

bdickens wrote: Sorry, man, but you're thinking like an anti-gun liberal..

I can agree you can think that,, but i KNOW it's not that..
I'll take Reality over your misconceived opinion anyday..

I notice you didn't address any of the substance of my reply.

Someone already quoted the applicable sections of the law on the first page of this thread.

English is not really all that difficult.

Plus, this is Texas. Remember Joe Horn? He shot two thugs burglarizing his neighbor, not him, in broad daylight, told the 911 dispatcher he was gonna shoot them, and the Harris County DA still recommended that the Grand Jury no-bill him (which they did).

I'm not really all that worried.

E.Marquez wrote:

bdickens wrote:

CainA wrote:

bdickens wrote:

CainA wrote:I wouldn't shoot the perp even if justified. Material things aren't worth the legal headache.

Well now, how about if those material things are either a) your livelihood, like the tools with which you make your living and feed your family, or b) rare and extremely difficult to replace like your left-handed Gibson Flying V?

Insurance.

Insurance. Why not just chuck the guy the keys to your house, too?

Because we are not discussing a house burglary.. it was a discussion on a car being broken into, an unoccupied car.. a car with relatively cheap items that can easily be replaced.. But even if you throw in the red herring of a "left-handed Gibson Flying V".. It's still just a non essential item and coved by my insurance.. Replaceable in money at least, with no more than a phone call.

Sorry, man, but you're thinking like an anti-gun liberal.

First off, burglary is burglary. House, car, office, wherever. It is still unlawful entry coupled with theft.

Second, you must have slept through your logic class because a "red herring" is a spurious argument used in an attempt to draw attention away from the issue at hand.

The whole "it isn't worth it so shoot someone over mere property" mentality is what is the red herring. Some things are not just "mere material goods." Some things have value beyond the cost of them.

The tools, for example. Those represent someone's livelihood, they represent shoes on the children's feet, food in their mouths and a roof over their heads. Yeah, insurance might replace them. But when? Tonight? Someone needs to go to work with them tomorrow so he can provide those shoes, that food and that roof. Is insurance going to pay for all that missed time - working time that will be gone forever, never to be recovered - while they drag their butts through the process of reimbursing you? I doubt it.

It's real easy for softies who spend their days imprisoned in an air-conditioned cubicle never risking dirt under their fingernails to pontificate about how "insurance" will replace a working man's tools. But let me tell you something, it's not quite the same as when your little dollar-store hammer goes missing and you can't hang Jenny's soccer picture on the wall this evening. Without those tools, no work gets done. No work gets done, no pay for workman. You, however, can still go push papers around for a paycheck after Tyrell breaks into your Tahoe and rips off your Boy George CDs.

I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools that I make my living with. Yeah, you read that right: tens of thousands of dollars. worth of tools. And without them, I am sunk. Would I shoot someone I caught trying to load up my tool boxes? You betcha.


As far as the left-handed Gibson Flying V being "non-essential," you obviously don't have one.

But seriously, like I pointed out before, some things have value beyond their cost. Yeah, it only cost me about $1000, but that isn't the point. Go try to find another one. I did when mine got stolen - and I couldn't. Fortunately, the multi-time looser who filched it and my Schecter 7-string was as stupid as most lowlifes trying to score their next crack hit and took it that same day to a nearby pawn shop and the police, who were already familiar with the scumbag, recovered it within a week.

Sorry, but I don't want the insurance settlement, I want the guitar. And yeah, I'd have shot that bozo if I'd have caught him in the act and he did anything but very gently set my things down and patiently wait with me for the police to arrive.


But hey, it's your life. You draw your line wherever you want. I'll draw mine where I want.

CainA wrote:

bdickens wrote:

CainA wrote:I wouldn't shoot the perp even if justified. Material things aren't worth the legal headache.

Well now, how about if those material things are either a) your livelihood, like the tools with which you make your living and feed your family, or b) rare and extremely difficult to replace like your left-handed Gibson Flying V?

Insurance.

Insurance. Why not just chuck the guy the keys to your house, too?

CainA wrote:I wouldn't shoot the perp even if justified. Material things aren't worth the legal headache.

Well now, how about if those material things are either a) your livelihood, like the tools with which you make your living and feed your family, or b) rare and extremely difficult to replace like your left-handed Gibson Flying V?