Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 95
§ 46.13(c)(2). For obvious reasons, if a child uses a firearm in
self-defense, or in defense of another person or property, there is a
general public policy interest in not prosecuting those persons.
EXAMPLE:
One night, armed intruders break into Nicole’s home and hold
Nicole’s parents at gunpoint while burglarizing the home. Nicole,
who is 12, covertly sees what is transpiring from the top of the
stairs and, knowing that her father keeps a loaded handgun in his
nightstand, retrieves the weapon. Nicole then shoots the burglar
threatening her parents.
Two questions arise in this scenario: first, is Nicole legally justified
in shooting the armed burglar? As we will see later in Chapters
7, 8, and 10, yes, she is. Nicole is justified in defending a third
person and property with deadly force under these circumstances.
Second, is Nicole’s father in trouble legally for leaving his firearm
accessible to Nicole? No, he is not in trouble. Nicole’s access to
the firearm was the result of her necessity in defending her parents
who were staring down the barrel of a home invader’s gun! This
accessibility to a firearm is contemplated under the Texas Penal
Code in the form of the affirmative defense—“lawful defense by
the child.”
3. Exception for ranching or farming
There is an affirmative defense if the child has a firearm during a
time when the child was “engaged in an agricultural enterprise.”
See Tex. Penal Code § 46.13(c)(4). This affirmative defense covers
situations where a child may need a firearm for protection or other
necessary situations that arise while farming, ranching, or other
activities associated with agriculture.
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