A hypothetical question --

[Space cat]

You wake up in the middle of the night. It's dark; so dark that you can't make out the shadowy figure of an intruder in your bedroom. Maybe you're still half asleep too. You live in a country where violence is commonplace and burglars regularly carry knives or guns or both. This is no time to stop and ask questions so you grab your own gun and get in first.

So far so good but tell me this: where would you aim? Would you go for a head shot? In a hurry? In near darkness? Something doesn't quite add up.

 

[ellal]

Maybe your first reaction should be to leg it...

 

[Bosswhite]

You wake up in the middle of the night. It's dark; so dark that you can't make out the shadowy figure of an intruder in your bedroom. Maybe you're still half asleep too. You live in a country where violence is commonplace and burglars regularly carry knives or guns or both. This is no time to stop and ask questions so you grab your own gun and get in first.

So far so good but tell me this: where would you aim? Would you go for a head shot? In a hurry? In near darkness? Something doesn't quite add up.

Would you have a gun permit !!
If you have a gun then it has to be kept seperately from Ammunition in a locked cabinet.

So your Question is pointless.

 

[EddieM]

A head shot is the worst to go for, it's torso, heart, head, as every home defendant / murderer knows!!

 

[joinerjohn]

Would you have a gun permit !!
If you have a gun then it has to be kept separately from Ammunition in a locked cabinet.

So in South Africa, you have to keep the ammunition separate from the gun ? I don't think so, as the usual gun licence over there is " A licence to possess a firearm, for self defence."
No good having a licence to possess one for self defence, if the ammo has to be kept separate from it.
Just have a look at the South Africa Firearm Control Act 2000, for further reading. Over there it's quite legal to carry a loaded handgun in a holster, in a public place. Just as long as you hold a licence to carry a firearm for self defence purposes. A case which would certainly not apply, here in the UK.
So the hypothetical question still stands.
Anyway, I bet Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend now regrets asking him to "Take her out" on Valentines Day.

 

[EddieM]

Would you have a gun permit !!
If you have a gun then it has to be kept separately from Ammunition in a locked cabinet.

So in South Africa, you have to keep the ammunition separate from the gun ? I don't think so, as the usual gun licence over there is " A licence to possess a firearm, for self defence."
No good having a licence to possess one for self defence, if the ammo has to be kept separate from it.
Just have a look at the South Africa Firearm Control Act 2000, for further reading. Over there it's quite legal to carry a loaded handgun in a holster, in a public place. Just as long as you hold a licence to carry a firearm for self defence purposes. A case which would certainly not apply, here in the UK.
So the hypothetical question still stands.
Anyway, I bet Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend now regrets asking him to "Take her out" on Valentines Day.

It is illegal to own a handgun in the UK, let alone a loaded one in public.... quite right too.

 

[Bosswhite]

Would you have a gun permit !!
If you have a gun then it has to be kept separately from Ammunition in a locked cabinet.

So in South Africa, you have to keep the ammunition separate from the gun ? I don't think so, as the usual gun licence over there is " A licence to possess a firearm, for self defence."
No good having a licence to possess one for self defence, if the ammo has to be kept separate from it.
Just have a look at the South Africa Firearm Control Act 2000, for further reading. Over there it's quite legal to carry a loaded handgun in a holster, in a public place. Just as long as you hold a licence to carry a firearm for self defence purposes. A case which would certainly not apply, here in the UK.
So the hypothetical question still stands.
Anyway, I bet Oscar Pistorius's girlfriend now regrets asking him to "Take her out" on Valentines Day.

Where in the original post does it state the Poster is talking about South Africa ???
This is an UK Forum so one would assume that the post relates to the UK Law, unless otherwise stated.

 

[JBR]

A head shot is the worst to go for, it's torso, heart, head, as every home defendant / murderer knows!!

Correct.

 

[joinerjohn]

Where in the original post does it state the Poster is talking about South Africa ???
This is an UK Forum so one would assume that the post relates to the UK Law, unless otherwise stated.

Never assume anything, but let's look at the original post for clues.

You wake up in the middle of the night. It's dark; so dark that you can't make out the shadowy figure of an intruder in your bedroom. Maybe you're still half asleep too.

Not much of a clue there, apart from the fact that Oscar Pistorius awoke in the early hours of the morning. Let's look further.

You live in a country where violence is commonplace and burglars regularly carry knives or guns or both. This is no time to stop and ask questions so you grab your own gun and get in first.

Well No mention of the UK there, but granted, this is a country where violence is commonplace and burglars are known to carry knives and even guns. We now look at the final part of the original post.

So far so good but tell me this: where would you aim? Would you go for a head shot? In a hurry? In near darkness? Something doesn't quite add up.

Now, we're getting somewhere. Obviously someone awoke (or claims) in the early hours of the morning and saw a shadowy figure in his bedroom. He had a loaded 9mm pistol by his bed and in a panic took aim and shot at the shadowy figure. In the darkness he managed to hit the person in the upper body and head, killing that person.
Now lets look at a major world event from the past week. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21469136

Suddenly the original post all makes sense. (unless you've been living in a cave for the past week and have only just emerged.
Remember, although this is a mainly UK forum, here in GD we chat about all sorts of things happening all over the globe.

 

[jeds]

MSN News are reporting that thousands of 'fans' have sent messages of support to Pistorious from all over the World. I'm a bit bemused by this. They have no way of knowing if he's guilty or not so they seem to be saying they're not bothered either way. If he was just some bloke off the street I'm pretty sure the same people would be sending him death threats rather than fluffy messages of support.