 Likewise a shopkeeper or other passerby may also meet this burden of proof when tackling the thief.But if any of those individuals pulled a gun and shot the (unarmed) thief for stealing, most modern societies would not accept that the burden of proof had been met.The obligation not to kill—being universally regarded as one of the highest, if not the highest obligation—is so much greater than the obligation not to steal that a breach of the latter does not justify a breach of the former.