Crooked in Canada II

I’m one of those people that believes in a person right to protect, defend and seek retribution when it comes to my family, my property, myself, and like decorated U.S  navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, my pets.

I tell you what, if somebody killed my cat Garfield, they wouldn’t get off as lucky as the men who shot to death Luttrell’s Labrador retriever.

What really gets me about Luttrell’s story is that his dog was given to him to help him heal after he was in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan, a battle in which he was the only one on his SEAL team to survive. The guy is a hero and low-lifes killed his dog.

How freaking low is that, and what would you do to somebody if they shot your dog?

I really feel for Luttrell, and I hope when he caught the three men responsible for killing his dog, he really, really beat the living you ‘know what’ out of them. I know if I found myself in his shoes I wouldn’t have held back.

Say what you will about me, but when it comes to what belongs to me, and somebody messes with it, them or that, the fight is on. If that makes me a criminal in the eyes of the law, then so be it, I’ll take my chances.

A few weeks before Christmas last year, that kind of situation played out for me when we were the victim’s of a home invasion. This wasn’t a random home invasion either, as I knew the identify of the home invader, and trust me when I say I fought back against him.

Unfortunately for my stepchildren, they saw of what happened, and for a short time afterwards, they were traumatized by what they saw. They’re over it now, at least it seems like they are.

On that particular night, I put up quite a fight, but I restrained myself somewhat out of fear of being charged for seriously hurting this guy.

Believe me when I say I really wanted to lay the boots to this guy, and while I did do a bit of a number on him, and was able to hold him until the last few seconds before the police arrived, he did get away. That really sucked by the way. Three hours later, he did turn himself into police though, but he really didn’t have any other choice, given that the police had his home address and he wouldn’t be able to stay away from kids forever.

In case anybody is wondering, I ended up with a some very sore ribs for a few weeks, and pair of broken glasses. The home invader has since made restitution for the glasses, as was ordered by the court after he pleaded guilty to what amounted to nothing more than a common assault charge in my opinion. The police refused to lay a home invasion charge, despite he barged his way into our home, in an attempt to go after my wife for reasons I don’t understand.

Anyway, when I was at the police station making a statement I happened to mention to the officer taking my statement that the invader got off lucky, that I wanted to really give it to him.

The officer replied that I could have done as much, and that I had shown restraint and common sense in my handling of the intruder.

He also added that in this particular case, I could have taken a baseball bat, pipe, or whatever to the intruder, and it would have been considered reasonable force.

Yeah right, I thought to myself before I chuckled at him and said, “Yeah, until I appear in court, and then it’s a different story.”

He didn’t give much of a response to my remark, but he did say that things would have worked out in my favour. I have my doubts about that. I hope I never find myself in a position where his opinion is tested.

Having said that, there’s a story that has unfolded in Alberta, Canada where a farmer shot, and wounded one of three men on his property who were there to rip him off. They were after his ATV.

The story goes that Brian Knight, after spotting the men in the early hours of the morning, grabbed his gun and chased them off his property, but one of them fled on Knight’s ATV.

Knight jumped in his vehicle (a pick-up I’m assuming) and took off after the man on the ATV, eventually ramming into it. The man ran from the scene, but Knight pulled his shotgun and fired to rounds at the fleeing thief, who despite being hit kept on running.

The chase was far from over, and Knight called friends and relatives to help him find the men. The wounded man was eventually intercepted by police, but briefly escaped in a stolen truck. He eventually lost control of the vehicle and was apprehended, and taken to hospital to have his injuries treated. He was released from police custody on a promise to appear in court for allegedly stealing the ATV and the truck.

Knight hasn’t been so lucky. He has been charged with seven offences, including assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and discharging a firearm, and for what, protecting what belongs to him.

He appeared in packed courtroom last Thursday to answer to those charges, and the case has been adjourned until May. He left the courtroom to a round of applause from a crowd of supporters waiting outside for him. Obviously those 100 or so people feel the same way I do about protecting what is mine, Knight’s and theirs. Those supporters have started a trust fund to Knight pay his legal fees.

My point is, and I know it has taken me a long time to make it, is that when it comes to protecting what is ours, the laws tend to favour the criminals, and that has to change.

I agree that there have to be limits on the amount of force we should be allowed to use, but at the end of the day if somebody is going steal something from me, invade my home, threaten to cause physical harm to my family, or in fact cause them harm, they do so at their own peril, and the last thing the police should be worrying about is whether they have enough evidence to charge me.

Think about it, if the police have to dig and dig and dig for evidence to support a charge against me, or interpret a law to support a charge against me because my victim got the ‘you know what’ of the stick, then there is definitely something wrong with that picture. In my opinion there is anyway.

In the end, you have to do sometimes what you have to do when it comes to protecting that which belongs to you and those you love and care about. If that means beating the crap out of somebody, or pulling a gun, so be it, just don’t make me out to be the only bad guy in the situation, and cut me a little slack.

Throw the book at me if you must, but throw the book at the person who was trying to cause me, my family and pets harm, or steal what I worked so hard to earn for them and myself.

Anything else I have to say from this point on about this particular matter is just rambling BS.

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