A plainspoken Florida sheriff has gone viral for encouraging homeowners to shoot intruders — and potentially save tax dollars in the process.

Santa Rosa Sheriff Bob Johnson made the remarks after an unidentified Sunshine Stater fired at a burglar with at least 17 arrests on his record last week.

Johnson declared that the property owner shouldn’t be afraid to come forward because they had done nothing wrong.

“If someone breaks unto your house you are more than welcome to shoot them in Santa Rosa County,” Johnson deadpanned in front of reporters. “We prefer that you do, actually.”

He politely offered firearm lessons to the resident to improve their aim.

“You’re not in trouble,” he said. “Come see us. We have a gun safety class we put on every other Saturday. If you take that you’ll shoot a lot better and hopefully you’ll save taxpayers money.”