Is there a law in Britain
that comically rural types are allowed to shoot at people?
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Sun 27 May 2012, 5:21, 10 replies)

I'd stick to the urban environment if I were you.





















Just in case.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Sun 27 May 2012, 8:09, closed)

No.
Only SERIOUS rural types are allowed to do that.
( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Sun 27 May 2012, 9:05, closed)

Didn't work out well for Tony Martin

( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Sun 27 May 2012, 10:13, closed)

He wasn't wearing a jester costume though.

( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Sun 27 May 2012, 10:18, closed)

Nope.
But other comically rural types think there is, so it works out well.
Trespass being a civil offence and walking in his field not being a threat to the life and/or limb of the farm owner there is no legal defence for shooting someone. I suppose "accidental" shootings could be got away with in terms of jail time but then there would be the matter of civil damages to the victim.
Whilst it would be a very unpleasant experience to be shot with a 12 gauge by somebody at the other end of a field as far as I know it would likely not be fatal so the "no win no fee" people would have a field day (oh, accidental pun).
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Sun 27 May 2012, 11:33, closed)

On the other hand...
... here in the UK you *are* allowed to use "reasonable force" to defend yourself. Now on farms you have a lot of very valuable equipment, materials and livestock. Quite often you find that people want to steal it.

It's a pretty safe bet that anyone who rocks up at your farm in the small hours intent on stealing a couple of hundred litres of diesel and a couple of hundred kilos of nitrate fertiliser is probably not a group of Boy Scouts up to some silly prank. It's not entirely outside the realms of possibility that these people may have a very specific reason for stealing fertiliser and diesel and may themselves be armed. In this case it's perfectly acceptable to squeeze off a few warning shots into their heads.
(gordonjcp, Mon 28 May 2012, 0:30, closed)

"To defend yourself."
If you think you are in danger then, of course, you are allowed to defend yourself. This means that if somebody breaks into your house and you happen to have a shotgun handy you can probably point it at them and might get away with firing if they threaten you in some way. What it does not mean is that you can attempt to protect your property by shooting at people. As you say, a warning shot could be reasonable to warn them away from you, but shooting at anyone that's not "coming right for you" is likely a very bad idea.
However, the whole "ger orf moy laahhnndd" situation which I think apeloverage was alluding to is just farmers either scaring gullible people or trying to get themselves jail time.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Mon 28 May 2012, 1:01, closed)

I sincerely wish somebody would shoot you.

( Fucking hell Jeff I am not a robot, Sun 27 May 2012, 13:01, closed)

Now that's just
unkind, that is.
(Misery McUglywife an attention seeking sociopathic fuckstain., Sun 27 May 2012, 23:11, closed)

On a scale of 1 to 10
your posts are shit.
(Guy Debord cette mauvaise réputation..., Tue 29 May 2012, 23:00, closed)