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Myths are a part of any field of interest and shooting and self-defense are no exception. In fact, a number of myths have been repeated so often they’re treated as fact by a lot of gun owners and self-defense-minded people. Don’t fall into a legal trap and know what you can legally do and not do.

Myth: If you shoot someone in your yard, drag them into the house. 

“This is a terrible idea!” attorney Gilbert Ambler says. The Pennsylvania and Virginia practicing barrister continues, “Many states have equal or near equal protection for self-defense outside the home. In these states, you gain nothing, but risk additional charges in the form of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice (and even potentially abuse of a corpse). Even in states where there is additional protection for defense inside the home, it is a terrible idea to move a body.”

“Forensics have gotten very good, and investigators will figure this out,” Ambler adds. “This is fairly classic evidence of “consciousness of guilt,” which the prosecutor will gleefully use to tell the jury that you KNEW you were wrong when you acted outside the home, which is why you tried to cover up this fact by dragging a body inside. This is one of the fastest ways to turn a legal, defensive shooting into an illegal shooting.”

Famed New Jersey gun rights attorney Evan Nappen agrees 100 percent.

“Never ever do that,” he says. “Never mess with the scene. Leave them alone and stand on your rights and let your attorney do the talking. The last thing you want to do is mess with the scene. The way criminal investigation goes today, they’ll know. It could lead to more criminal charges.” It could even lead to criminal charges where none were initially expected.

And never, shoot, shovel and shut-up as one recent TTAG commentor suggested. With forensics, phone location data, cameras everywhere and the mere opportunity for witnesses, particularly in a neighborhood or urban setting, the odds of you being caught and arrested for wrongdoing in something you may have originally been justified and vindicated from are just too high.

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32 COMMENTS

  1. Or, if you’re in a rural setting, drag the scum out back for the coyotes. They’ll make it disappear.😂

    • Gipper, the coyotes leave the big bones and often scatter them to the four winds when they return. And they will. Several times. A hog parlor is a better solution if you have access to one. Remove all clothing and jewelry. Vent the abdomen. Don’t feed the pigs for a couple of days. You can figure out the rest. Read about it in a book once. My comment was not advice. It was meant to academic.

        • Dark, takes them too long. Gators have to tuck their lunch under a log or ledge, etc and let it decompose for a while before eating it. Gators can’t really chew. One trip to Gainesville and you’ll know what I mean. Their fans table manners are atrocious.

      • Chipper-Shredded is faster and more complete….set it up NEXT to the Hawg Waller, aimed at the food trough.

  4. “And never, shoot, shovel and shut-up as one recent TTAG commentor suggested.”

    I’ve never seen an article here at TTAG that was triggered by what was basically a dark humor joke by a commenter.

    Slow day?

    And besides, everyone knows the shovel part can be pretty tiring and its best use a backhoe.

  6. I learned all the facts of self defense from our illustrious leader: the most popular President in United States History, Joe Biden.

    1. Scare your attackers away by firing into the air from your balcony.
    2. The sound of pumping the shotgun will deter anyone close enough to hear it.
    3. If they remain undeterred fire at them through your locked door.
    4. The help will clean the mess.

  7. I don’t drag them in the house until I’ve field dressed them.
    Neighbors, uh if they start guawking too much I just yell , “Its my fcking dead guy, get your own.” That usually gets them back in the house but sometimes they’ll bring over some beer and help out a little.
    With a good sharp knife I can usually have one skint and gutted in ten minutes.
    Humans are easier then deer and the excitment of knowing the cops will more then likely show up speeds things up.
    Sometimes I save the heads to hang on my wall if I’ve not got that particular breed hanging up there already.
    I’m missing an Amish and an Eskimo, the Eskimos are a little scarce around here but I figure I’ll have an Amish head hanging up there before to long.
    I’m trying to get one with a ten inch beard. Female or Male don’t matter.

  8. The simple fact that the vast majority of homicides in big cities such as Chicago are never solved (less than 20%), demonstrates the validity of the Shoot, Shovel and Shut up strategy. Of course it will not work if you are stupid enough to call the police. Equally stupid is to have a Ring camera that will video the shooting of a perp on your porch or in your yard then upload it to the WWW. The possibility that the neighbors might have cameras that will video the shooting is a problem. This is less of a problem if you have a driveway that is half a mile long.

    Presuming that you have no video camera and no close neighbors whose video camera might be a problem, chain the perpetrator up behind your pickup. Be careful not to get any evidence on yourself. Leave your cell phone tracking device in your home. Then take the pero for a drag around the neighborhood. This tactic is particularly useful if the perp isn’t dead yet. It is best to have gravel in your travel. Keep dragging until there is nothing left on the end of the chain. Loose the chain.

  10. What about stomping on their skulls after you smoked them with your daily carry for putting the shooter in the position of having to use lethal force, losing our firearm to a police evidence room FOREVER, getting poor sleep while some pencil neck democrat prosecuting attorney decides if the shooting was justified and wondering if the food is any good in the state prison system these days. And then there’ Bubba!!!

    • Or… you could just, ya know, do valid legal self-defense and let your lawyer handle it.

      • “valid legal self-defense” still means the cops are going to have your gun for a damned long time and the DAs office will also take forever “investigating”

  11. Basically;

    The time I need to save my wife from the two guys trying to abduct and rape then murder her… when they were down finally, one dead the other badly wounded and paralyzed… when the cops finally rolled up my wife was kicking and screaming and cursing at the one that was still alive and paralyzed.

    Cops had to basically pull her away from him. I wasn’t going to pull her away. It did pose a couple of questions and accusations though from one of those animals family members about the ‘scene’ and about her ‘assaulting’ him – basically trying to say I shot them on purpose for no reason at all while they were just minding their own business and they didn’t do anything wrong and my wife was just trying to complete a murder. They didn’t know about the security surveillance video or their family member past.

    Prosecutor saw the security surveillance video of the event, knew of their past crimes for which they were still being sought, his response to the ‘scene’ and ‘assaulting him’ questions and accusations was “I’m pretty sure things happened exactly like what it looks like on the security surveillance video.” and showed them the files and showed them the video of our event to which their lawyer replied “Ok, yeah looks like it. Thanks for your time.” and they all left.

  12. We’ve all enjoyed offering stereotypical comments. While our irreverent suggestions of “Shoot Shovel and Shut up” might seem extreme, they are indicative of a growing distrust of the criminal justice system. People who have been compelled to use firearms for self defense have always been confronted by a judicial system that is a crap shoot at best.

    Many of us now have to contend with Soros anointed prosecutors whose commitment to racist injustice supersedes any concerns about actual justice or the rule of law. Just ask George Zimmerman who shot Trevon Martin who was beating his head against the pavement.

    Some may have noticed that the FBI is no longer disseminating detailed crime statistics. This is a result of policy changes as well as about half the jurisdictions in the nation no longer submitting information. This includes New York City. The powers that be want to conceal the truth.

    Historically; African Americans who comprise only one-eighth of the population have committed over half of all homicides and nearly two-thirds of all gun homicides. These percentages had been increasing when the FBI ceased publishing statistics. Historically; most homicides committed by African Americans were of other African Americans. This statistic had been changing with an increasing number of white people being murdered by black people. Just consider the race of perps and victims in cases where people have been shoved onto the subway tracks. We now have an escalating race war compounded by white trash exploiting the chaos .

    Our justice system has become thoroughly politicized. The persecution of the January 6 protestors as terrorists illustrates the problem. The prosecution of President Trump with the imposition of fines totally over half a billion dollars for offering fair but optimistic valuations of his properties to obtain loans that were repaid in full reveals just how insane the justice system has become. The motivation is racism. Blacks who hate whites have seized control of the criminal justice system.

    The bottom line is that the United States is entering a period of Anarcho-Tyranny. There is no longer any justice nor any semblance of the rule of law. Now we have criminal mobs exploiting the courts to assault the innocent.

    The simple fact is that people are now more likely to need to use deadly force to defend themselves than ever before but more likely to be persecuted by courts that are merely accessories to the crime..

    Shoot, Shovel and Shut up is now the only sane response.

    • Well stated and your comment adds more value to the original article.

      The irony is; one of our local TTAG trolls will come along and demand you cite your information regarding the 8%. They will completely miss that the DoJ has made the citation nearly impossible for the last few years. Yet, we all know the truth.

      Fifteen years ago, I used to comment on several major media websites, presenting facts and links to the FBI crimes statistics. My facts and data were contrary to the narrative and when the trolls flagged me, I was banned. As one FBI agent said, “the truth is out there”.

      As for the SSSu response, we are almost there. If we can’t stop this runaway train soon, it’s going to be a violent ride.

    • EF one minor quibble with your post: gyorgi didn’t “appoint” the prostituters er um persecutors oops prosecutors (it’s just sooo hard to tell them apart) he bought and paid for them.

  13. I suspect the “just drag ’em inside” people have a lot of overlap with the “you ain’t even gotta aim with a shotgun” people.

  14. A Philly cop told me they would find bodies dressed in black rolled up in carpet in Fairmont Park from time to time. Fingerprint check would reveal lots of burglary priors.

    Not everyone can call 911.

  15. Only real issue with the triple S method is out here they usually have vehicles. And then getting a ride back to the farm is a question if a vehicle is removed far enough to avoid a connection. Don’t really want to push it into the inter coastal or burn it for possible environmental issues. Enough oil in the Gulf as it is. Don’t need more from a sunken car. Fire can get out of control if we have a couple weeks of dry weather. Have had a fire warning/watch already this spring.
    Disposing of a carcass is not that much of a problem Gators, feral hogs, or perhaps a quick boat trip to feed the sharks are possible options.
    Of course this is nothing but theory/academic speculation and in no way to be thought of as advice or imply I or anyone else would actually do such things.
    Just do as the powers that be, our betters etc demand and give the perps whatever they want, up to and including your daughters virtue and your life. Wouldn’t want to be seen as in way oppressive or anything.

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