What I was getting at with that comment was the ironic idea of you advising people on this forum to watch what they post…
BTW, it’s unlawful in most states to use deadly force to defend property.
Yes and no.
In basically all states, you can use non-deadly force to defend your property—
and if the thief or vandal responds by threatening you with death or great bodily
harm, you can then protect yourself with deadly force.
So in practice, you can use deadly force to protect property after all, if you're
willing to use non-deadly force first and expose yourself to increased risk.
https://reason.com/volokh/2020/06/02/are-people-allowed-to-use-deadly-force-to-defend-property/So in other words,
IF someone is damaging, trespassing on, or stealing your property,
AND IF you attempt to use non-deadly force to stop them (I imagine direct confrontation, physical altercation, etc.),
AND IF they threaten you with death or grave bodily harm,
THEN you can defend your property with deadly force.
In effect you are defending yourself, but actually you are defending your property with non-lethal force.
When the perpetrator responds by escalating, you then have justification to also escalate.
I think the lesson here is to avoid protecting your property unless you know you can kick their ass or you know they will resort to deadly force first. If you get your ass kicked, and the other person/s doesn't cross the line to "threatening death or grave bodily harm," then you're just going to have to take that ass kicking.