Mentalities mined.(EXERCISING THE RIGHT)

A June 9, 2008 story about a homeowner shooting a burglar, printed in the Contra Costa Times (California), provides some interesting perspective on the mind-sets of some of the people involved in the story.

First, of course, is the shooter. He is a 37-year-old Oakland man whose house, a place where he has lived most of his life, has been repeatedly burglarized. The shooter's neighbor told the paper about the homeowner: "The guy is exasperated because they target his house. There's got to be somebody watching him, because the minute he leaves the house, it's targeted to be broken into. It's between five and six times, quite a few attempts at it, no matter what he does." On this occasion, the homeowner saw a burglar trying to pry open a back window on his house. The homeowner fired several warning shots, which went unheeded, before he was forced to shoot the burglar.

Second is the burglar. The man who stands accused of this attempted burglary is 51-year-old Marcus Holoman. He has "a criminal record that includes arrests and convictions for burglary." He ignored several warning shots, and then he advanced on the homeowner, who then shot him in the leg. When neighbors checked on the wounded Holoman, who was lying on the sidewalk, he yelled that he didn't know anyone lived at the house (apparently forgetting that the homeowner had fired multiple Warning shots and that a person is not allowed to steal from an unoccupied house any more than he is allowed to steal from an occupied one).

Third is the citizenry at large. The Contra Costa Times reports that the neighborhood has seen a rash of thefts and that the next-door neighbor became ...