Posted on 12/11/2020 10:16:12 AM PST by george76
Austin, TX – Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would require homeowners to “retreat” before using deadly force in certain situations.
Under Texas’ “castle doctrine,” citizens have the right to use deadly force to defend their “land or tangible, movable property,” KPRC reported.
House Bill 196, filed by Rep. Terry Meza (D-Irving) earlier this month, would require homeowners to be “unable to safely retreat” before they could legally use deadly force against a perpetrator.
Property owners would also no longer be able to use deadly force to stop aggravated robbery or robbery crimes under the bill, according to KPRC.
“A person who is in the person’s own habitation, who has not provoked the person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force,” according to the proposed legislation.
Critics have accused Meza of trying to repeal the state’s “castle doctrine” by forcing people to surrender their property and flee before resorting deadly force.
But Meza said she is just trying to stop people from being so quick to shoot criminals on their property.
“My bill HB 196 and my position on the Texas Castle Doctrine has been misrepresented in the news as of late,” she lamented in a series of tweets on Nov. 19. “It does not repeal the Castle Doctrine, and it does not restrict homeowners from using firearms in self-defense as applicable to current Texas stand your ground laws.”
Meza said her bill “would require a homeowner to exhaust the potential of safely retreating” into their own home before they could legally use “deadly force in defense of themselves or their property.”
She explained she filed the bill because the current “castle doctrine…emboldens people to take justice into their own hands.”
“While theft is obviously wrong, we have laws to address that,” Meza reasoned. “I don’t believe that stealing someone’s lawn ornament should be an offense punishable by death.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he has no intention of backing the bill.
“Let me be clear,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “The Castile Doctrine will not be reduced. We won’t force Texas homeowners to retreat. Especially with the crazy ‘defund police’ ideas, homeowners need to protect themselves now more than ever.”
“We will protect 2nd Amendment rights,” Abbott wrote.
In Arizona, deadly force cannot be used to protect property, and they classify your pet dogs as property.
yup- good answer- Can’t retreat when you’re cornered against a wall by an armed intruder-
But stealing/subverting ones 2nd Amendments Right might merit it.
Question: How does the homeowner know the person who has broken into their house is only going to rob them? Do they have to ask the criminals first? What if the robbers lie?
Well it would be better if one could shoot them before they get to your property but the paperwork involved is daunting.
I missed where there have been a whole bunch of “lawn gnome theft shootings.” Is this a problem in Texas? Does the current “Castle Doctrine” not take into account there shall be a reasonable fear that life is in danger?
I was taught differently, if you feel for your life, you're good to go to defend yourself in your home.
Hey I’ve got an idea...how about making it illegal for a perp to break into and assault you in your home...oh never mind....
They also taught us that if someone assaulted us, that we should never hit them back, because that would leave us open to assault charges like the person who originally assaulted us. The person who taught us was the weapons training officer, who also worked part-time as a county sheriff.
How about we not retreat from the communists who represent the criminals instead of We the People??!
Won’t pass
Looks like her Dentist retreated from his Orthodontics Class in College.
now there is a level of stupidity, that can only be described as a family tree that resembles a yard stick.
Just curious, were you in the Navy? I was and am ROTFLMAO...
This is actually a Bill to take everything from you, just like they did in Nazi Germany. If this bill passed how long before everything working people are completely displaced.
Owner ship of property is taught in the Bible and is a good Christian principal.
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