in defense of property

The question of whether or not deadly force (generally the use of a firearm) is an appropriate response to a threat on a person’s property (as opposed to life) is something that even pro-rights activists can debate for hours, if not years, on end, with no discernible outcome, primarily because of how the specific details of the incident can wildly change what is and is not acceptable. Well, at least for pro-rights activists living in Eastern Tennessee, we are about to have some legal precedent by which we will be able to judge and guide our actions:

Kevin Beeler is standing trial in Criminal Court this week on a charge of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old trespasser and possible burglar, Stewart Lee Williamson, outside his Vestine Drive home in Corryton in April 2006.

The important part of this case, at least in my mind, is this line:

“That’s his bank,” Whalen said Tuesday of the shed, where Beeler kept car parts to sell. “He’s going down to check the lock on the vault.”

In order to save myself the time and typing, I will simply link back to what Bob S.:

It is hours out of a person’s life (at $20 an hour) — $1,400 is nearly two work weeks. Why shouldn’t people consider theft of “just money” the same thing as kidnapping that person and holding them hostage?

It is life saving medicine that many people can not easily afford to replace; not in terms of money or in terms of time.

I carry a rescue inhaler, luckily for me it isn’t so bad that I couldn’t make it back home without it, but for many people — it is absolutely necessary for them to have it. Especially when the stress of being robbed kicks in.

Why shouldnt’ we consider the theft of medicine more then “just property” and make it attempted murder?
Isn’t it a right to use lethal force if someone tries to kill you?

…and I have written:

All of the various materials and items we human beings view as “personal property” did not simply materialize into existance, with your ownership of them stamped on their molecules. No, each and every single one of those items and objects was gathered, bought, traded for, procured, created, fabricated, or otherwise generated through your work or someone else’s. Oh, there might be money involved, but, after all, money is nothing more than a physical and outward sign of someone’s efforts – you worked to receive that money, did you not?

Your property is you – it is the product of your work, your effort, your time, your “blood, sweat, and tears”. Would the county have objected if Kevin Beeler had shot Stewart Williamson while the latter was attempting to kidnap the former and force him to perform unpaid labor? Because that is exactly (logically speaking) what a thief does when he steals property from another person. That shed constituted a non-zero portion of Mr. Beeler’s life’s efforts, in physical form – why should he be forced to surrender that fraction of his life simply because someone else wants to take it from him?

Unfortunately, this particular case is not as clear-cut as some, and, due to that, I fear the possibility of some bad legal precedents:

Foster, now 26, testified that as soon as Beeler screamed in fear, he yelled out three times, “I’m going to kill you” and then opened fire.

Whalen contends Beeler opened fire immediately after screaming as a reflex to being “bum-rushed” by Williamson.

Depending on the time elapse between Beeler confronting Williamson, the nature (or even existence) of the threat/warning, and whether or not Williamson posed a material threat to Beeler, this case could go either way (in my completely non-lawyer, non-legalistic opinion).

For those interested in the the tip of the legalese iceberg surrounding this case, Tennessee State Code 39-11-611 is as good a place as any to start.

NOTE: This post was originally supposed to go up on the 24th, but due to the problems my webpage has been having, it did not… and in the intervening time, Kevin Beeler has been found not-guilty of murder. I will let an actual lawyer provide the take-away:

First, I invite all of you to move to Knox County, Tennessee, where juries understand the right of self-defense, and its association with your property. Warning to all guys who think it’s safe to creep around in someone else’s back yard: Enter at your own risk, in Knox County, anyway. Once again, the jury system proves the merit of having the people—not the government–determine whether a citizen loses his liberty over what the state calls a crime.

(Courtesy of Michael J. Mollenhour.)