Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 152
Wanda was confronted with trespassers who may have also been
thieves. Under Texas law, a person may legally use force, but not
deadly force, to remove a trespasser or thief during the daytime.
Therefore, if the warning shot fired by Wanda is legally classified
as deadly force, she will not be legally justified, and instead, a jury
may decide she is guilty of a crime such as aggravated assault. So,
the classification is the difference between guilt and innocence.
Now, let us change the example a bit to see how things may get
even more complicated.
EXAMPLE:
Wanda confronts the same trespassers, Adam and Jane, as before
and fires a warning shot. This time, however, the shot startled
Adam and Jane out of their zoned state of blissful courtship. They
were so completely consumed with one another they didn’t realize
that they had accidentally wandered onto Wanda’s property.
In fact, Adam and Jane were so deep in enjoying each other’s
company and the Texas air that they didn’t even hear Wanda’s
verbal demands, but the sound of Wanda’s 12 gauge got their full
attention! As a result, Adam does exactly what his Army training
has taught him—he draws and fires at Wanda, believing that she
had meant to kill him and Jane.
Wanda has very likely used unlawful deadly force against mere
trespassers. After Wanda’s shot, does this turn our absent-minded,
wandering Adam and Jane into victims who reasonably believe that
their lives are threatened? Does this fact then allow Adam some
legal justification to return fire?
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part I | 141
