This is just wrong. Charged for protecting your property?

When your dog is being attacked by another dog, one should have the right to exercise lethal force to protect one's own property and friend. If I am walking my dog or I have my dog in my back yard and a vicious dog attacks either myself or my dog, I am going to use whatever force is necessary to protect my dog. If that means shooting the attacking dog, so be it. In protecting my own dog by shooting the attacker, there is no way under all fairness and common sense that I should be charged with animal cruelty. Allowing the attack on my dog would be animal cruelty, not defending my canine companion and property. This would be a JUSTIFIED use of a firearm in the judgment of any rational, fair minded individual.

The following news story was on WTSB's news page today. It is just wrong to charge this man with discharging a firearm in the city limits (which is a BS ordinance to begin with) and animal cruelty. This is NOT justice. It is just plain wrong.

Owner, Neighbor Charged Following Dog's Death
Two Selma neighbors are in trouble with authorities following the shooting death of a canine. It happened Monday night on Godwin Street. Selma Police reported William Lynn Godwin, 32, shot and killed his neighbor’s dog, reportedly while trying to defend his own animal. Godwin was charged with cruelty to animals and discharging a firearm within town limits. The dog’s owner, Kevin Campbell, was cited for violating a town ordinance of allowing his dog to run at large.

Yet another reason to encourage concealed carry laws and participation

In every state where concealed carry laws are prevalent and there is a decent amount of participation in same, violent crime decreases. From time to time, I participate and am packing. A lot of it depends upon my mood, my activities, and my work schedule.

I drove right by the scene of the below incident last night. We were in the area after the police were on scene and investigating. I wondered what the deal was at Smithfield's BBQ and up the road at Peedin Street.

Part of the responsibility of carrying a weapon is knowing when and when not to use it. It entirely depends upon the situation as to whether I would engage criminal scumbags like this. The sad thing is that when a responsible citizen does take action, he is often put under intense scrutiny. In Selma, a security guard was even charged with an offense after taking action, fulfilling her duty as a guard and a citizen.

I have not been placed in the situation to confront a criminal like in article below. Therefore I can not say definitively what I would or would not do. All situations are different. I can say that I have no ethical problem with shooting dirt balls like this at all.

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From the WMPM web site:

Police are following up on fresh new leads in their search for robbers who have hit four Smithfield businesses in six nights. The latest business robbed was Smithfield ’s Chicken N Barbecue on Brightleaf Boulevard . Two men wearing ski masks, dark clothing, gloves, and armed with weapons, burst into the business around 7:05pm Tuesday while it was filled with about 15 customers and employees. The gunmen forced the manager to hand over cash, but as they tried to flee in the parking lot, an undercover US Customs Agent, armed with his service weapon confronted the robbers at gunpoint. The suspects started to flee in their Nissan Sentra when the officer fired shots at their car, deflating two tires. The robbers crashed their vehicle about two blocks away near Brightleaf and Peedin Streets before they jumped and ran. Police suspect they are responsible for holdups at Andy’s Cheesesteaks on Thursday night, Lowe’s Home Improvement on Saturday night, and CVS Pharmacy early Sunday morning. The businesses are located within a half-mile radius. The SBI is now assisting in the investigation. No one has been hurt in any of the robberies, but police are very concerned because the robber’s actions are so brazen.