I was deeply shocked when I read of the deaths of the two French students. Then I noticed that the term “burglary” was used. In the United States, the term “home invasion” is used to describe this type of crime, and to distinguish it from what we call burglary: the illegal entry of an unoccupied building for the purpose of theft or mischief. Home invasions are less common in the United States because an invader can be met with deadly force. As another commenter (Peterike) said, “And don’t forget, in Britain if you defend yourself from a crime and — heaven forbid — hurt your assailant, you are generally in far more legal trouble than they are.”

So we have the spectacle of a citizen of a once-proud Empire, afraid to go out on the street, locked in his flat behind double-bolted doors, buttering his toast with his finger.