This week school's out and houses in my neighborhood are getting toilet papered. Originally, I thought these houses had someone in school sports or the house has a coach, but this is not the case. I guess toilet papering a house is not vandalism, but certainly can be classified as littering (a $50 fine, max). At one house they spray-painted "Ha Ha :)" on their concrete driveway. What can be done? What can one do to prevent their house/trees to be toilet papered?
That's easy enough: don't be an asshole. Assholes are the only ones I can recall ever getting their houses rolled when I was in school. As a result, I make it a point never to give the neighborhood kids a hard time. And in over 20 years in the same house, I've never been rolled, egged, or vandalized.
Texas Penal Code 9.42 DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY A person is justified in jusing deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property: (1) if he would be justified in using force against another (to prevent damage or to recover his own property); and (2) when and to the degree he reasonably believe the deadly force is immediately necessary: (A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or CRIMINAL MISCHIEF DURING THE NIGHTTIME (emphasis added);
YSMV (your state may vary)
Warning: If you kill the goblin, the cops will sequester your weapon until their investigation completes. We had a 70-year old fellow in Dallas last week who had to buy a THIRD goddamn shotgun because the cops keep confiscating his weapon every time he kills a burglar!
Least the cops could do is provide a "loaner." It's not like they don't HAVE any shotguns! Bah.
As a former egger, spray painter, and TP vandal, I can tell you most of the time I did not even know who lived in the house or drove the car I was egging etc. The only thing that set me straight was getting my ass kicked... and it took a couple of ass kickings but I got the message of course that was a different time 1980's, I think you can't do much nowadays, maybe just tazzer the bastards a few times?
Some moron posted the law about using deadly force to protect property, because he thinks it applies to kids toilet papering trees. Then, he needed to include an anecdote about shotguns because he gets all tingly in his panties when he talks about weapons.
"Clark..." wrote in news:eEtTi.2008$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe06.lga:
paintball gun. Taser is only good for ~15ft range. PB also makes them identifiable to police. If you could get pepperball ammo,that would be even better.
Ah, okay. A little context: Vandalism of any kind (i.e., toilet-papering a house, up-rooting mailboxes, graffiti, etc.) has been held in this state to be "criminal mischief during the nighttime and subjects the perpetrator to the application of deadly force.
It sorta does. The recent (2005) passage of Florida's "Castle Doctrine" law establishes the presumption that a criminal who forcibly enters or intrudes into your home or occupied vehicle is there to cause death or great bodily harm. You may use any manner of force, including deadly force, against that person.
It doesn't matter that the intruder was drunk, or negligent, or mistaken.
Further, you may not be sued for any damages sustained by the victim.
Go Florida!
How all this silliness came about:
For generations (well, at least since the Magna Carta in 1216), there exited in either black-letter or common law the notion that one's home is a "castle" and, to remain inviolate, the owner had the unquestioned right to repel intruders by any means necessary. And that right could not be gainsayed by anyone.
Then a bunch of egg-heads got together and promulgated the "Model Penal Code" in 1976. The so-called "Castle Doctrine" was absent from the MPC and state legislatures, with modest tinkering, adopted the thing wholesale. So the Castle Doctrine disappeared.
Thanks to publicity Florida generated (mainly) many states have repaired this deficiency in their state laws.
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