I've personally been robbed or burglarized (at least) 13 times in my

[Zorra]

lifetime.

I also once surprised a burglar in the act of stealing my car stereo, and another time caught someone in the act of prying a screen from the window of my home. I have been chased down a street in LA by three men, and had a friend that I was traveling with point a rifle at the men as they were chasing me, the act of which turned them around and made them run the other way instantaneously.

The police have never caught any of the people that robbed or burglarized me. None of my property has ever been recovered.

Granted, because I travel a lot, sometimes in other countries, I am in some situations that are not the most secure. Still, that doesn't make it OK for someone to steal my property. And some of these incidences occurred in relatively secure places.

Frankly, I'm pretty angry, and sick and tired of dishonest people, who I strongly suspect are most often drug addicts, taking my property. It is a violation of my person, and some of the things that I have had stolen were very personal to me, as well as instrumental in how I earn my living. Now, I really don't believe that material things are worth killing someone over, but after repeatedly being ripped off I almost find myself thinking, well, heck, Joe Horn was justified in shooting those two thieves.

Recently, I was traveling in the Southwest US. I asked a (temporary) neighbor in a small rural town where I was staying if I had to worry about crime. He laughed, shook his head, and said, "Nope. There is no crime here. Everybody here has guns, and we all know how to use them."

I believe that in the US, our society and criminal justice system is so focused on a misguided, time-consuming, and ineffective "war on drugs" that it does not address the root causes of crime, and can neither prevent nor solve the majority of crimes. Further, in reality, our society's approach to the issue of crime actually fosters the continuation of crime and criminal recidivism.

I'd really love to be able to vote in a sane approach to solving the drug problem and preventing crime, but punishing crime seems to be so much more politically popular among the more conservative element in our society than preventing crime that it seems that legislating change is not an option.

So anyway, I have some questions, because of the discussion here of the "Joe Horn Incident":

If someone is about to rape me, or you, or your child, or I catch them taking my property or your property, would shooting them be justifiable? Because of our arcane approach to the whole problem of crime, the police can't, and don't, really protect us from criminals. Where do we draw the line at protecting ourselves, our property, and our neighbor's property?