Sort of agree.

I didn't take Dan to be such a bleeding heart liberal. Conceptually I agree that theft doesn't warrant death. However, pragmatically speaking, we have created a system that rewards theft. And some, like meth head tweekers, can't stop stealing no matter what. The pragmatist in me learns from LE and the justice system that 90% of the crime is committed by the same repeat offenders. So when that asshole tweeker breaks into your truck, if we were legally permitted to shoot the bastard dead, he will stop offending. And property crime rates will plummet. I maintain that the justice system went adrift when we stopped hanging horse thieves.

Sentencing a convicted felon to hard labor might sound appealing. But let's bear in mind that it now costs more to imprison one of these low lifes per year than it does to send them to Stanford University. That is an unfair cost burden to society. The only acceptable alternative to shooting the bastard IMO is a sentence wherein the convict earns enough to pay for his own imprisonment.

OK, now my bleeding heart. Anyone can make a mistake. Beat the holy sh!t out of the thief on the first offense. Kill him for the second. Yeah, I could be good with that.

Consequences. The laws of nature are full of 'em.