Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 164
PRACTICAL LEGAL TIP
In law school, they taught us that
“reasonable minds can differ.” Yet,
reasonableness is a standard that we
are held to whenever we face a legal
issue. Thankfully, Texas provides us
with presumptions of reasonableness
so that even when reasonable minds
do differ, you know where you stand
with the law. —Emily
C. Legal presumptions for victims of certain violent crimes
If a person is a victim or would-be victim of unlawful force or
deadly force, Texas law allows for the justified use of force or deadly
force when and to the degree that the person reasonably believes it
is immediately necessary to protect himself or herself. However, if
a person is forced to defend himself or herself against someone who
is committing or is about to commit one of the six crimes listed in
Sections 9.31 and 9.32 and satisfies the other requirements of the
statutes, the law will provide a legal presumption that a victim’s belief
in the immediate necessity of force or deadly force was reasonable.
These six crimes are: aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault,
aggravated sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated robbery.
1. Victims of aggravated kidnapping
If a person is a victim or a would-be victim of an aggravated kidnapping,
a first degree felony, then the law will presume reasonable his or her
belief that the use of force (Section 9.31) or deadly force (Section
9.32) was immediately necessary to defend against an attacker, and
therefore, force or deadly force will be legally justified.
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part II | 153
