>>>>What sane person with one functioning brain cell would engage in an extended high-speed chase trying to get away from law enforcement when caught red-handed? Yet it happens every day, and every day they get caught.
>>>>
>>>>Criminals are neither logical, nor sane.
>>>
>>>There is a huge difference between acting stupidly in the heat of the moment like trying to run from the police, and planning a burglary. I just can't see why any burglar wouldn't work on the assumption that there might be a gun in the home.
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>>You are trying to apply logic to people who are already behaving without regard to logic or social custom.
>>
>>Someone planning a home invasion is already disregarding the possibility of alarm systems, residents who may be home, and routine police patrols. Why is it so surprising they'd disregard potentially armed residents?
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>>They're going in without regard to any other caution. They have decided, before they go in, that going in is "worth it" in the face of all odds.
>>
>>FWIW, I HAVE been the victim of home burglary, and it happened while I slept.
>
>I think the point was to draw a distinction between a burglary and a robbery. A burglary is a property crime while a robbery is a personal crime. Granted a burglary is very "personal" when you are the victim, and even I have been a victim. It makes you want to shoot someone!<g> A robbery, by definition, is up close and personal.
>
>Burglary (at common law) is the breaking and entering, the dwelling house, of another, at night, with intent to commit a felony. There are seven elements to this crime and all the elements must be present before the charge can be sustained.
>
>Robbery (at common law) is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. Robbery has fewer elements.

That's all semantics. I'm talking about somebody breaking into your home. Call it whatever you like.