Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 174
EXAMPLE:
Tanya is on her way home from work. She stops by a local
convenience store for some bread and milk. As she enters the
store, a masked man suddenly approaches her with a knife, grabs
her by the arm, and demands her money. Tanya, scared and
shaken, remembers her training, opens her purse, pulls a .357
revolver, and fires, killing the masked robber.
In this example, because an aggravated robbery was happening,
Sections 9.31 and 9.32 allow for the justified, legal use of force or
deadly force when and to the degree Tanya reasonably believes it is
immediately necessary to stop the aggravated robbery. In addition,
the law will provide Tanya with a powerful legal presumption of
“reasonableness” to her belief in the immediate necessity of deadly
force to stop the aggravated robbery, and she has no legal duty to
retreat. Thus, her use of deadly force is legally justified.
What if the example is less clear?
EXAMPLE:
Homer, a 66-year-old disabled man, works downtown. He has
to park four blocks from his company’s office building and walk
through some rough parts of town in order to get to his car. A
man suddenly appears in front of him and says, “Hey man—give
me some money!” Homer, feeling very frightened and intimidated,
walks on with the now more loud and aggressive panhandler
demanding, “Hey! Man! I said give me some money!” Homer now
becomes extremely concerned for his safety. About that time,
Homer makes a wrong turn into an alley where he is cornered.
He again hears, “HEY! MAN! I SAID GIVE ME SOME MONEY!”
When Homer turns around, he sees the same man, now very
aggressive, with something in his hand.
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part II | 163
