Updated

Italian opposition politicians from the far right and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-right party are demanding a new law on legitimate defense to protect law-abiding citizens.

The request comes after a restaurant owner is being investigated for murder for allegedly shooting a thief in the back after a middle-of-the night break-in at the trattoria.

The owner and his family live above the restaurant in Gugnano, near Lodi, northern Italy. When noise awakened the family early Friday, the restaurateur grabbed a loaded hunting rifle and, according to the man and his adult son, fired toward a courtyard through a rear-entrance barricade erected by the thieves.

The victim, a Romanian, was fatally shot near the back shoulder blade. The other thieves escaped.

Opposition politicians are siding with the restaurateur.