Not legal advice...

Earlier this week, I received the following fairly interesting query by email:

I am in the U.S and if someone tried to break into my house and I do not know him or her and I assume their going to hurt me I have every right to kill them? Not on purpose but at least stop them. im 15 if that has anything to do with it. I live in Texas also

I am, of course, not a lawyer, and I responded as such. You need to ask a lawyer if you want to get a legal answer you can rely on. But it's also possible to just read the law for yourself, and decide based on that. That's why we have written laws. And while I'm not going to give legal advice, when I saw Volokh's post on Texas laws concerning the use of deadly force on thieves or looters I thought it was worth mentioning. It doesn't deal with the law on using deadly force to protect yourself or others, just on protecting property.

I should mention as well that what the law allows for is not always the wisest course of action. You don't want to be pushing the legal envelope in court on a murder charge. But as the saying goes, if it comes down to the decision to shoot or not to shoot, it is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

Posted on 2005-09-24 12:02:35.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

Check the groups below and enter your email address to receive updates by email:

The trackback URL for this entry is: http://triggerfinger.org/weblog/servlet/trackback/6770

No trackbacks have been posted so far.

No comments have been posted so far.