Do You Have the Right to Defend Yourself?

[IHL]

<img align=left textalign=top hspace=5 vspace=5 src="http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/pics/breaking/0413az-border-autosized141.jpg"></img></IMG></IMG>

UPDATE (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0421haab-ON1.html)

</IMG>You would think that if a person is on a remote Arizona highway, and he is approached in a threatening way by seven illegal aliens, you would have a right to defend yourself. Don't be so sure. Recently, Patrick Haab found himself in this situation (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0413az-border-detention13-ON.html). Haab is an Army reservist. He stopped at a rest stop in a remote section of Arizona to let his dog out for a bathroom break. According to Haab, he was approached by seven illegal aliens who confronted and surrounded him. Fortunately, Haab was legally armed with a handgun and a permit to carry it in accordance with Arizona open carry gun laws. Haab drew his weapon and the attackers backed down and headed for their vehicle. With the help of his dog, Haab was able to secure the vehicle, remove the keys and hold the aliens at gunpoint while he called 911 and waited for Border Patrol Agents to arrive (45 mins later).

What happened when authorities arrived? Haab was arrested and the illegal aliens were asked if they would like to file charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Haab for his actions. They did.

Opponents of Haab say he acted as a vigilante and that he should have just let the aliens leave when they backed away from them. Haab responds, saying that if he had let them go the next guy down the road would meet the same fate or worse.

So, Haab is facing seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for being a victim. I will never understand this mentality but he will get his day in court and we'll see what happens. At times like this, I wish I was a judge. His case would be dismissed so fast it would make your head spin.

You can visit Haab's defense fund at www.k9mc.com (http://www.k9mc.com/). Show him your support.

[Hooray4Libs]

This has got to be one of the stupidiest things that I have ever heard. Now, not only are the liberals against America, they are putting the well being of people who aren't even supposed to be in this country over that of an American. In the words of Stossel, "Give me a break."

[Hillrunner]

Seriously i don't think anything surprises me anymore.

[iluvUSA]

the title of that post should have been catch-22...if you defend yourself you are screwed...if you dont you have seven men attacking out..WTF?!?!?!?!

[riverman]

ffffffffffffffffffff

[Raver]

Wow, this has got to be one of the most retarded moments in American history.

[Guns R Cool]

Now we're allowing illegal immigrants to press charges? WTF? Liberals yell at us to protect the borders, yet when they get here, the libs give them more rights than an average US citizen.

[DoubleU]

As a person who loves America, what is your opinion on this Chi?

[Sgt.Miroku_Army]

Wow. How much more absurd can things get? You know damn well they can get much worse than this. Scary thought? You better believe it. I almost don't know what to do anymore. It seems like they are making too much headway here. We need superman to stop this powerfull locomotive, and last I checked, superman was only in the comics and movies...

[teens4bush]

This is ludacris, MAYBE he went a bit too far, btu that doesn't justify criminal charges. I prbably would have done the same. Nonetheless, I am confident he will be aquitted.

[libs-wear-bibs]

This makes me f**king sick. A man, serving this country, gets arrested and gets charges pressed against him by people who, not only do they not live here, but surround him in a threatening way! He waits for the police/border patrol to show up, only for him to get arrested!!! WELL, ISNT THIS JUST OUT-F**KIN-STANDING! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[libs-wear-bibs]

This is ludacris, MAYBE he went a bit too far, btu that doesn't justify criminal charges. I prbably would have done the same. Nonetheless, I am confident he will be aquitted.

Oh this guy didnt go to far at all.. he contained these men surrounding him by threatening them with a legal firearm. If you are feeling threatened, and fear for your life, it is very legal to pull out that gun. He didnt shoot em and he called the police.. HOW THE HELL DOES HE GET ARRESTED!? THIS PISSES ME OFF TO NO END!

[jackalope_herder]

Biggest crock of s--- I've ever heard. It's a sad, sad day.

[RLord4268]

:icon_mad: :icon_mad:

Words can not express how angry I am right now! This is the biggest load of crap that they have pulled since Roe V. Wade

[RLord4268]

In opinion, they are only attacking him because he successfully used a gun to defend himself. This goes strongly against the liberal agenda, and even though there was like seven guys, no one took the gun away from him, which the liberals always push as another reason that guns should not be even considered. Then they are acting like the mexicans are all the victims and all that BS only because they are a minority, if they were seven white guys then the guy would be out of jail, and the seven guys would be executed and labeled as white supremesits.

[deek]

im still waiting for one of the local jackasses to try and defend the liberal side of this. I just dont understand, he didnt hurt any of them, he just called the police and detained them...if anything these mexicans were slighty inconvenienced...is that what they are pressing charges for? OFFICER OFFICER!!! THIS MAN SLIGHTLY INCONVENIENCED ME!!! ARREST HIM IMMEDIATELY!!!

or for you spanish speakers...TACO TACO!!! BURRITO BURRITO!!! ENCHILLADA!!!

not to mention that the aliens were the ones doing something illegal.

[Hooray4Libs]

Another thing that make me mad is that he did what we tell our children to do (or, what we are "supposed" to tell our children to do). We tell them that "when someone is attacking you, it's okay to defend yourself, but then you need to go and tell an adult, okay." Now, because of this, I'm thinking that it should be more like, "If someone threatens you, you might as well get a few punches in. And aim for the face because you're gonna get in trouble for it anyways." Oh how i hate liberals.

[riddle]

What would be impressive is if this went to a higher court. Then we would get the plublicity and a shot at showing the ACLU how fanatic they are. If this was to go far enough and we (the conservatives in favor of the defendent) won, it could set a precident in jurisprudence for our favor.

[GOP4ALL]

I think that it is terrible that he was arrested for that. I am sickened that they border patrol arrested someone for doing THIER job. The only thing that would make this worse is if he went to jail for it...that would be amazingly horrid.

[IHL]

The debate is that when they left and headed for their vehicle, he should have just let him go. They are not saying he didn't have the right to pull the gun on them. They are saying he went too far by pointing a loaded gun at them when they were no longer a threat to him since they were leaving.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree. As it turns out he probably would have been better off to shoot them all in the head and drop them all right there and drive off. I'm not saying it would be the right thing to do but as it turns out, it might have been better for him. Obviously it would have been the wrong thing to do legally and morally.

What he did was make a citizens arrest of people that he thought broke the law. Did he take the law into his own hands? I'd argue that he didn't. He simply held them until the proper authorities arrived. So the question really becomes - should he have just let these guys get away after he was no longer being threatened or should he have held them there for the authorities to decide what happens.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be surprised if he did some time for this. It just depends what the actual law states regarding holding people against their will.

[teens4bush]

After secodn thought, what he did was justified. Think of ti as a citizen's arrest. I don't knwo ARizoan law, but there was a care in Kansas where a farmer caught someone stealign valuable wood from his farm, so he pointed a gun at him. tied him up, put him in the back of his truck. and brought him tot he police station. This guy was nto charged, so what is the big deal? Is it the liberals and their love for illegal immigrat's rights? If you ask me, illegal immigrants have two rights:

-The right to shut up.
-The right to get the hell out of our country.

[Wadi66]

I think Haag is being used as a pawn, as an example, to justify their rationale that private citizens can't be trusted. Problem is, the government wants the illegals here, the minutemen or any private citizen acting to enforce laws already on the books are causing problems for the governments agenda.

[Republican_Anthem]

This man had the right to do what he did to these ILLEGAL ALIENS. What the courts don't understand is that these people are here illegally. Hang on one second...

il·le·gal ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-lgl)
adj.
Prohibited by law.

a·li·en ( P ) Pronunciation Key (l-n, lyn)
adj.
An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country

Don't these courts own dictionaries?

We might as well give back the Mexican Cession, the Gadsden Purchase, and Texas back to Mexico.

Why not? With the ACLU and liberals cuddling the illegal aliens, what chance do we have of actually getting rid of these people?

[lordnyra]

it seems that now liberals have taken over the country with their complaining!
one thing, we dont know what happened there (i mean who's gonna believe soem illegal alien's testimony) so i belive the guy who made the arrest. Those illegals were afraid that a person from a country that they are taking advantage of is trying to shoot them. They dont know our laws so y allow them to file a charge? The liberals sure dont make this country a better place, i mean with all that free time do u think thye have jobs? They all live off their mothers. Idiots!

[Guns R Cool]

They were illegals, he had every right to hold them at gun point. If i was there I probably would have shot them and buried them. Who would miss them? Besides they threatened his life, they were going to assault him. That's conspiracy to committ a crime.