Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 186
involved in criminal activity should not receive the power of
presumed legal justification in protecting themselves when they
were doing things they were not legally entitled to be doing in the
first place!
H. When is the use of force or deadly force explicitly not legally
justified under Texas Penal Code Sections 9.31 and 9.32?
Texas Penal Code Section 9.31(b) outlines five specific situations
where a person is not justified in using force. Being justified in
the use of force is an absolute prerequisite to the use of deadly
force; therefore, any time a person is not justified to use force under
Section 9.31, that person is also automatically disqualified from
being justified to use deadly force under Section 9.32.
1. Force never legally justified in response to verbal provocation
alone
NO JUSTIFICATION FOR WORDS ALONE
TEX. PENAL CODE § 9.31(b)(1)
The use of force against another is not justified in response to
verbal provocation alone.
If you think back to your childhood, you probably remember the
saying: “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never
hurt me!” Believe it or not, the law agrees wholeheartedly with this
concept. Under Texas law, a person is not justified in using force
when words are the only provocation to a situation.
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part II | 175
