Blind man shoots intruder...

[Dr Mordrid]

The Castle Doctrine strikes again

CNN link....

Blind Man Shoots Home Intruder In Neck

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A Gainesville man's lack of sight didn't stop him from defending his home from an intruder.

According to police, Cevaughn Curtis Jr., 28, broke into Arthur Williams' house in Gainesville at around 3 a.m.

Curtis, police said, knocked on the door, asked to be let inside but Williams refused. Curtis then tried to force his way into the home.

The 75-year-old retired taxi dispatcher, who's been legally blind for the past 61 years, opened fire on the would-be-thief who kicked down his door, police said.

Police said Williams shot Curtis, who tried to flee but collapsed on the front porch, in the left side of the neck. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Police said Curtis was charged with burglary of an occupied residence and battery on a person over the age of 65.

Officials are praising Williams for protecting himself.

[Technoid]

You could almost think it was named after Frank

[Brian Ellis]

A number of questions spring to mind.

"Legally blind" can mean one of two things: either the visual acuity is down to 10% or the field of vision is down to 10°, as I understand it. The report does not say which pertains. In either case, it seems probable that Williams had sufficient vision to point a gun in the right direction, possibly aided by the sound an aggressive intruder would be making, remembering that people with poor sight often develop bat-like location hearing. I conclude that the headline is possibly quite misleading because legally blind does not mean totally blind, which is the implication.

My second reflection is whether a legally blind person has the right to have a firearm. In his hands, a car would become a lethal weapon and, for that reason, he is not allowed to drive. I would have thought that a gun would have been considered similarly, even in Florida or even Texas (there have been other reports about blind people hunting; I would have thought that was more dangerous than being near Dick Cheney hunting quail! ). A quick Google revealed that a firearms licence requires an eyesight test in many countries, including the UK, South Africa, Malaysia, Canada, Australia etc.

[Dr Mordrid]

The required field of view for a set of iron sights is less than 10 degrees and even a blind man can do a contact shot. Not to mention even a blind man has a right to self defense.

[TransformX]

If you can point at the source of the noise, you can shoot at it. In an imtimately familiar place, such as your home, you could probably shoot someone quite acurately even in a dark night with the electricity out.
(legally or not) blind people can navigate even better in such a familiar place, so shooting someone standing at their door it too easy.
Repeating the beginning of the post, if you know where the door is well enough to reach and open it on the first try, you can easily shoot and kill the person standing behind it.