Guns in the home - where do you stand?

In My Humble Opinion
101

In Texas, we are not subject to that astonishing restriction. As I stated earlier, the thief is entirely in charge of determining whether his life is worth my “stuff”. His right to continued existence remains at my property line, right where he dropped it. It seems that Texas in large part, agrees with me.

I am not a lawyer, but the information below seems pretty straightforward. I agree mostly, but I think the “nighttime” reference is too restrictive of the property owner.

The following is a quoted from the Tx Penal code Ch 9, on using deadly force:
(bolding mine)

PC §9.41. PROTECTION OF ONE’S OWN PROPERTY. (a) A person
in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable property is justified in
using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably
believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate
the other’s trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the
property.
(b) A person unlawfully dispossessed of land or tangible, movable
property by another is justified in using force against the other when
and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately
necessary to reenter the land or recover the property if the actor
uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession
and:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the other had no claim of right
when he dispossessed the actor; or
(2) the other accomplished the dispossession by using force,
threat, or fraud against the actor.

PC §9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY. A person is
justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible,
movable property:
TEXAS CONCEALED HANDGUN LAWS PC §9.51. 47
(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under
Section 9.41; and
(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly
force is immediately necessary:
(A) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of arson, burglary,
robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal
mischief during the nighttime; or
(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing
burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime
from escaping with the property; and
(3) he reasonably believes that:
(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by
any other means; or
(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover
the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial
risk of death or serious bodily injury.

102

Back to answering the OP:

As some have mentioned, there are some gaps in the poll. I’ve never had a successful illegal entry into our home, but there’ve been attempts made at least twice, once whilst my home was occupied by humans, and once when only the dogs were home. There may have been others - I wouldn’t be surprised, considering - but there’s no evidence of such. Which is why I have dogs - They stop things before they go too far.

In one case, I met the loud, insistent, drunken idiot trying to bust my door down with a firearm ready, but not prominently displayed - Fortunately, I was able to turn the drunk around with words, and didn’t need to use any force. Of course, I’m a big guy, and was (at that time) intimidatingly fit. But I had ‘Plan B’ ready, just in case.

In the other case, no one was home but the (very active, and rather large) dogs, and the entry stopped at a cut window screen.

I’ve mostly lived in suburbs, but have spent times in big cities, and in small towns, and even completely rural. Some neighborhoods were good, some sucked, most were some intermediate level of ‘safe.’

I have firearms. Multiple. And dogs. And other weapons - My most serious weapon is my mind. My second most serious weapon is my wife’s mind. Or maybe I have that backwards. Just don’t mess with the Missus, and we’ll never need to know.

My dogs are my alarm system, and a deterrent. One of them would most certainly go after an intruder. It isn’t the one you’d expect. A canine pump-fake, if you will. :stuck_out_tongue: However, once they alert, the dogs fall in behind me. Or my wife. And either one of us is ready, capable, and willing to use deadly force, and we both know how and when to so do. Don’t rightly know what the dogs do when no one is home, but whatever they do, it’s been effective at least once.

I mostly target shoot, but the ability to exercise a the full spectrum of force is important. Never needed to use it, but as noted above, I’ve been in a situation where it quite plausibly could have been needed. In my current neighborhood, it’s a possibility, but not a big one. Most likely, the dogs will serve our needs plenty fine.

Another reason I like having my firearms is that bit about not trusting the government - 'Cause I don’t. Not really the government’s fault - concentrating power is what governments do. They can’t help it. I don’t think I’ll need to gather up arms against an oppressive government, but I’d like the option open, in the unlikely chance it ever becomes needful to remind them that there are limits.

I have minor children. They are more precious to me than my life, my wife’s life, or anything anyone might offer me. They will be defended first. And frankly, I anticipate that should it come to it, my wife will be leading the charge. I’m aggressive and strong, but she’s a she-wolf when it comes to the kids.

One of the ways I defend my children is making sure they understand firearms. Firearms are tools, very powerful ones, and must be treated with respect and understanding. They see them, they handle them under supervision, they get random pop-quizzes on proper conduct and handling, and the weapons are demystified to them. PLUS I have a heavy, secure safe - not a pancea, but another step towards securing the weapons and defending the kids: Demystify, train, and secure. No weapon is out in the house unless one of us parents are right there with it and in control of it, or directly supervising.

And yeah, that’s pretty much how I was brought up. Worked on me, worked on my father, and works on my kids too.

103

Edit: Sorry, this was in response to pullin: Yes, I was using Illinois as an illustration of one of the variations between states. It seems that a few states may require you to retreat first if possible, for instance, so it would be advised for people to read up on state and local laws before assuming that they don’t have to retreat, they can shoot in defense of property, they can shoot outside their house, etc.

104

Agreed. I spent some time with an attorney getting a real-life interpretation of those laws. Apologies for what may have seemed an attempt to characterize your state’s approach based on an small excerpt of the law. Your advice is good.

…and as long as I’m at it; Apologies to the OP. This thread seems to have strayed far from the original intent and questions. In retrospect, I’ve been guilty of helping with the derailment. Emotional issue, and all that. The distaff side of the household just sashayed past and invited me to join her in the jacuzzi. Perhaps I should step away from the keyboard and relax a little. :wink:

105

Au contraire, mon ami. For the most part, I am getting just what I had hoped for, which is to hear how people feel about having guns in their homes, and why. There have been very interesting and persuasive remarks in this thread on both “sides” (if I may put it that way) of the gun ownership line. And these questions of the law relative to using a gun in this way are, I think, certainly relevant to the overall discussion.

I wonder if anyone has been jogged to re-think their position about guns in the home, from reading this thread. I have. Doesn’t mean I will necessarily do anything differently, but I’m not ruling anything out.

Roddy

106

Well if I had my choice of intruder… :stuck_out_tongue:

107

This is America! Americans own guns.

There are plenty of OTHER countries in the world where those other governments do not let non-criminals own or carry guns. The ""anti’s have a lot of countries to choose from to move to if they want to be in a country where all honest non-violent law abiding citizens are disarmed and defenseless.
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