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Lots of discussion about this lately in this forum so I thought I'd create a poll.
For the sake of simplicity, either there was never a threat to your safety or the threat to your safety has passed. The item taken does not contain your personal info and will not lead someone to your home to do unspeakable things to your family.
This is simply a question of if you are willing to shoot someone solely for the purpose of retrieving property.
Thanks.

Stealing stuff. No.
Stealing my guns that may then be used for violent crime on innocent people; I would want to stop that if possible. Nothing to do with the value of the guns. Still can't say if I would or wouldn't use deadly force.

It depends upon whether or not the property is replaceable. Some things simply cannot be replaced. I did not vote in the poll since this was not one of the choices.

There's a big gap in the poll there between $100 and $20,000. It would depend mostly on the relative value to me and whether or not it could be replaced, as the law mentions. A $20,000 car that could be replaced, no I would not shoot. Something of $100 "value" that could not be replaced, I'd shoot if they were leaving my house or car with it. Keep in mind that "value" here is quite a relative term and dollar amounts don't necessarily constitute value in many cases.

If this poll were posted a year ago, I would have chosen the $20K option. After seeing what Zimmerman was put through, the legal fees would be 10X the cost of a new car and the car is insured. So, I don't think I would shoot unless I was in fear for my life.

What does "to retrieve property" mean? Would I drive over to the thief's house and shoot while trying to recover my stolen property? No, most likely not. But depending on what the item is, I would definitely shoot to keep it from being taken off of my property.

As someone else has pointed out, the cost of defending yourself in a shooting is very hight. I likely wouldn't shoot someone for stealing my television, although I would definitely draw down on him and try to intimidate him into abandoning the effort. I have good homeowner's insurance. But if the property was irreplaceable and literally priceless..... well, I own a few things that cannot be ever duplicated and which it is almost impossible to attach a value to—including one item of which there are only known to be 6 of them still existent in the world, and 5 of those are in museums, the 6th is in my living room, and it is a family heirloom. I would shoot to stop a thief from leaving my property with that item in his possession (which would be difficult for him because it literally weighs several hundred pounds).

But would I shoot to stop someone from leaving my home with cash or jewelry? Probably not. Like I said above, I might try to force him at gunpoint to abandon the effort, but if he kept on running and exited my property, I'd give a good description to the cops and let them do their jobs.

The Annoyed Man wrote:What does "to retrieve property" mean? Would I drive over to the thief's house and shoot while trying to recover my stolen property? No, most likely not. But depending on what the item is, I would definitely shoot to keep it from being taken off of my property.

As someone else has pointed out, the cost of defending yourself in a shooting is very hight. I likely wouldn't shoot someone for stealing my television, although I would definitely draw down on him and try to intimidate him into abandoning the effort. I have good homeowner's insurance. But if the property was irreplaceable and literally priceless..... well, I own a few things that cannot be ever duplicated and which it is almost impossible to attach a value to—including one item of which there are only known to be 6 of them still existent in the world, and 5 of those are in museums, the 6th is in my living room, and it is a family heirloom. I would shoot to stop a thief from leaving my property with that item in his possession (which would be difficult for him because it literally weighs several hundred pounds).

But would I shoot to stop someone from leaving my home with cash or jewelry? Probably not. Like I said above, I might try to force him at gunpoint to abandon the effort, but if he kept on running and exited my property, I'd give a good description to the cops and let them do their jobs.

100%.
Most of the things I own can be replaced. There are one or two things that I would be extremely disappointed to lose. Still couldn't say I would pull the trigger to keep them.
Now, if I'm home and someone is breaking into the house all bets are off because at that point my safety and the safety of my family are at risk.

The question has no yes and no answer for me. Valuation is not a factor, and each scenario is different. In general, I would not shoot to retrieve something that as been stolen from me, but there may be cases where I would depending on the circumstance. So, there is no MAYBE answer for me.

What if you had a crystal ball that told you a year from now the perp was going to kill someone in a robbery- just like what happened last week in my city where two guys all with long rap sheets went into a convenience store, held it up, shot one of the clerks in the chest ( who died) and ran off. Good videos of the guys and the shooter is already in jail.
Would I have shot to retrieve property- no. But.... the person who steals from you today probably isn't going to become a priest tomorrow.

My Pug dog is considered my property and even though I paid less than $100 for him in 2000, he is probably the only property I would shoot over.

As others have said, if caught in the act I would draw but I would only shoot if threatened. I would stand my ground as it is my land, my house, and my right to stand my ground there. If they ran away that's okay, but if they came at me or threatened me I would defend myself and my family with force.

If he's in my house or entering my house, he's getting shot. Anyone who does that is a threat to my life regardless whether they are "armed" or not. Since Zimmerman is apparently the standard now, ask Zimmerman what an unarmed man can do to you. I'm not waiting for him to get in the first punch or to tackle me or hit with whatever he can grab or to hurt one of my family. I'm old and out of shape, and the only means of protection I have is a firearm.

If he's outside but on my property, he'll be staring down the barrel of a gun until he either submits or runs. He will know that I will report a very good description of him to the police if he runs, that the police are already on the way, and so he's chances of getting away are greatly reduced.

This is a difficult question for me to answer. There is much more than the loss of property involved in a burglary, theft or robbery. We have been burglarized 3 times. Once they were in the house when my mother in law arrived with our two young daughters. Fortunately they retreated out the back door before they entered. My wife and I were robbed at gun point and then they took our car. I was physically assaulted once while another guy held a gun on me. I had my truck stolen right out of the driveway and caught up with the guy, but couldn't get the door open before he drove off and got away. Being the victim of burglary is as close as a man can ever feel to being "violated" in my opinion. Considering all the other crime experiences I can only imagine my emotions if I encountered someone stealing my property, no matter the value. Though I hope I am never faced with the situation (as do we all) I think there would be a strong temptation to shoot if I am completely honest with myself.

TexasGal wrote:Stealing stuff. No.
Stealing my guns that may then be used for violent crime on innocent people; I would want to stop that if possible. Nothing to do with the value of the guns. Still can't say if I would or wouldn't use deadly force.

We used to keep "vehicle guns" in our pick-up and sedan. I had wrestled with the possibility of catching someone stealing my vehicle and having to:
A) Disable the vehicle and escalate/deescalate depending on how the thief responded.
B)Out and out shoot the thief to end the possibility of them retaliating with a found weapon.

Now, we retrieve and replace the vehicle guns every time. I rest that much easier because of this better habit.