FORE!

1/11/2011 9:14:55 PM

Quote :

"(Reuters) - Criminals in Texas beware: if you threaten someone in their car or office, the citizens of this state where guns are ubiquitous have the right to shoot you dead. Governor Rick Perry's office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans' existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves "without retreat" in their homes, cars and workplaces. "The right to defend oneself from an imminent act of harm should not only be clearly defined in Texas law, but is intuitive to human nature," Perry said on his Web site. The new law, which takes affect on September 1, extends an exception to a statute that required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack. The exception was in the case of an intruder unlawfully entering a person's home. The law extends a person's right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force, the governor's office said. The reasonable use of lethal force will be allowed if an intruder is: - Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes - Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place - Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place. The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker in such situations. Texas joins several other states including Florida that have or are considering similar laws. Sympathy for violent offenders and criminals in general runs low in Texas, underscored by its busy death row. The state leads the United States in executions with 388 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court. A conservative political outlook and widespread fondness for hunting also means Texans are a well-armed people capable of defending themselves with deadly force. It is easy to acquire guns over the counter in Texas and lawful to carry a concealed handgun with a permit."

i have put a lot of thought into what i would do if someone was breaking into my house. i live in texas but don't own a gun. i do have a silent panic button linked to my home alarm system that sends the police no questions asked if pushed

i also have a sneaky as fuck hiding place planned out in my house if i did need to hide myself as leaving the house would be very difficult if someone was attempting to get in or was already in.

i have also thought about keeping a gun in my secret hiding place so i could protect myself if i was discovered.

i go through my plan on a semi regular basis so that if i needed to execute it i could do it under the craziness of adrenaline. i have also seriously considered the gun thing but i dont feel ready yet.

1/11/2011 9:31:09 PM

I say shoot them. Then again, consider the entire situation. Do you have kids? Are they old enough to potentially have snuck out and be trying to sneak back in? Haha gotta be careful before you shoot.

You also never know with regards to other situations. Completely crazy to think but maybe someone's outside running away from someone trying to kill them and it just happens to be your house that they are desperately trying to get into to hide.

When you start thinking about things like that really makes you wonder.

But just in the general sense of a criminal breaking in, shoot them. World's crazy, you have no idea if this will be another situation like that Connecticut family.

1/11/2011 11:00:29 PM

Quote :

"i have also thought about keeping a gun in my secret hiding place so i could protect myself if i was discovered. "

yep, I keep a pistol with a laser sight on my nightstand (no time), a bigger pistol under the bed (little time), and a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun that holds 11 or 21 rounds (depending on which magazine I have in it) of #1 buckshot in my bedroom closet, which is where I would go hide as long as I had time to get there.

It's not that they wouldn't find my bedroom closet...it's that I could call 911 from there, and then would be set to ambush them with a hellish blizzard of buckshot when they did make it up there and make the mistake of opening the door.

1/11/2011 11:17:31 PM

Texas is awesome

1/11/2011 11:24:14 PM

Texas is indeed awesome

^^also what shotgun is that? Saiga 12?

1/12/2011 1:04:19 AM

Yep, Saiga 12. 19" barrel, red dot reflex sight on top. prob going to mount an LED light on my other picatinny rail this weekend. have the stock mag, as well as a 10-round mag and a 20-round drum (plus 1 in the chamber). Typically load with #1 buck, although I'll put some 00 in the bottom of the bag sometimes if I can't find #1.

1/12/2011 11:05:55 PM

When you're in your bedroom closet ambush position, do you have visibility and time to identify the person that walks through the door before filling them with buckshot?

Do you take any extra precautions in securing these weapons when you have custody of your daughter?

I'm not trying to be a dick, I am genuinely curious about your self defense fantasy.

1/13/2011 8:20:32 AM

Well, obviously I'm not going to shoot simply at movement, from the closet or anywhere else (or at a silhouette, unless I've already identified it as hostile).

I completely unload everything and store the ammo apart from the guns when I have my daughter around. I do keep the magazines loaded and on a high shelf where I could reach them, load them into a gun, and chamber a round reasonably quickly if needed.

1/13/2011 8:09:52 PM

I am very pro gun bit I'm telling you if you can flee you should flee

1/13/2011 8:16:15 PM

absolutely. that's much better bet than leaving yourself in a position to potentially get into a gunfight.

plus, even if you are in a position of tactical advantage and have far superior firepower, the aftermath of killing an intruder could be a huge, expensive pain in the ass.

[Edited on January 13, 2011 at 8:32 PM. Reason : but if shit hits the fan and you need to fight, make sure you win.]

1/13/2011 8:31:40 PM

I'm curious, do any of ya'll that keep loaded weapons around have young kids? If you have SD weapons around the house and have children, what do you do about them?

The reason I ask is that with the new job my wife is staying home during the week with the boys, and to make matters worse our large dog just died this week, so no "alarm system" in the house at night anymore. I had my brothers Mossberg 500, which is a great SD weapon, but we never kept it loaded. It had the ammo clip on the butt which you could load from, and I kept 00 buckshot in there. Now we just have a single shot 20 gauge with the same butt clip with some slugs on it, which stays in the closet out of reach of my sons. I just recently picked up a Glock and will be getting my CCW for this in the next couple of months. I will make sure she is proficient with it, but she wants to store the gun and ammo separated and with a key lock on it. I have tried to explain to her that it is basically worthless as a home defense weapon, but I really don't know what other people do that have kids. BTW, mine are 7 and 3.

1/21/2011 5:27:57 AM