Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 202
NECESSITY
TEX. PENAL CODE § 9.22
Conduct is justified if:
1. the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately
necessary to avoid imminent harm;
2. the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly
outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness,
the harm sought to be prevented by the law proscribing the
conduct; and
3. a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed for
the conduct does not otherwise plainly appear.
As this law applies to animal attacks, a person may be legally
justified in using force or deadly force (such as firing their gun)
against an attacking animal if that person has a reasonable belief that
force or deadly force is immediately necessary to avoid imminent
harm. However, the imminent harm a person is trying to avoid (by
otherwise breaking the law) must be evaluated by a desirability and
urgency test under the statute using a reasonable person standard.
Further, there exist no legal presumptions of reasonableness such
as ones that exist for human-on-human attacks. So, how does this
all work in practice?
EXAMPLE:
Jose is walking in his neighborhood when out of nowhere, three
large pit bulls spot him and immediately begin running toward
him, barking with sharp fangs showing. Jose barely has time to
draw and fire his .40 caliber Glock at the lead dog, just before it
lunges at him. Having dispatched one dog, the other two flee.
When Can I Legally Use My Gun: Part III | 191
