You Can’t Shoot a Jewel Thief
19th August 2026
An Italian jeweler was recently convicted for shooting to death two of three thieves who had just ransacked his shop.
The video report below says that the thieves “attacked” the jeweler during the robbery, and also tied up his wife and daughter. Under Italian law, however, that was not enough to excuse his lethal response as an act of self-defense.
Suppose the robbers had, say, pistol-whipped one of the women. Would that be enough to justify the shooting? Or what if they had raped his daughter?
I don’t know the answer to those questions. In the more northerly parts of Europe, the state generally holds an absolute majority on violence, so that nothing ever justifies a lethal act of self-defense. But Italy may not be that insane — not yet.