A Florida sheriff says “there’s nothing wrong with homeowners shooting intruders to save taxpayers money.”

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson made the comments after a homeowner shot at a burglar with at least 17 arrests on his record last week.

32-year-old Brandon J. Harris’ string of burglaries were thwarted by an armed homeowner who unloaded on him allowing Florida deputies to corner him as he fled.

‘I guess they think they did something wrong, which they did not. If someone’s breaking into your house, you’re more than welcome to shoot them in Santa Rosa County. We prefer that you do, actually.’

Johnson said the property owner shouldn’t be afraid to come forward because they hadn’t done anything wrong.

Johnson also encouraged the homeowner and other residents to take the departments’ gun safety classes.

‘We have a gun safety class we put on every other Saturday. If you take that, you’ll shoot a lot better,’ he said.  ‘Hopefully you’ll save the taxpayers money.’

In 2005, Florida became the first state in the nation to enact a ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, which allows people to use lethal force against home intruders if they ‘reasonably believed’ they faced an imminent threat of death or serious injury.