Protect the right to self-defence

Dear editor: I was always under the impression that as Canadians, we actually had some rights when it came to self-defence of person and property. That is, until I heard about these three incidents.

Two brothers (last name Truta) encountered three men breaking into their garage in the middle of the night. After an altercation ensued, two of the men fled, and the third was left in critical condition. The victims of the break-in were arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

Kyle Munroe was home one day when three men armed with guns broke into his house. Munroe struggled with two of the men and managed to wrestle a gun away and fire at the attackers as they fled. One of the attackers was grazed by a bullet.

Mr. Munroe was arrested and charged with attempted murder, intent to discharge a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm, as well as possession for the purpose of trafficking (the last charge would indicate that Mr. Munroe is not a pillar of the community). It doesn't matter; the laws pertain to all Canadians.

An Ontario man, Ian Thompson, woke up one morning to find men throwing molotov cocktails at his home. A former firearms instructor, Thompson fired warning shots, put out the fire, and called police. Thompson was arrested, and faced more charges than his potential attackers. Charges were eventually dropped, but the incident left Thompson financially ruined.

If you go onto the internet, the written laws in this country would indicate that no charges should have been laid in any of these cases with respect to self-defence actions taken by all the victims of these cases. I'm sure there are many more out there.

What is wrong with this picture? The message from policing agencies are loud and clear: You have no rights when it comes to