Texas passes law, removes duty to retreat

[turbo2ltr]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...032701384.html

The interesting thing is that they also give self defenders civil immunity.

[blefferd]

welcome to the real world of self defense, Fl used to have some bogus ass law like that but they got rid of it.

i always thought Texas had good gun laws but from what ive been seeing i thought wrong! now Death Row is another thing lol, i saw something on tv the other night about a guy getting off Death Row in Texas, talk about winning the lottery!

[rodnocker1]

That article is "sort of" misleading. What the law says is "it is an affirmative defense to a civil action for damages against an actor (meaning self defenders)". The next section says "a defendant who prevails may recover court costs, Attorney's fees, earned income", etc. You can still be sued, taken to court, and forced to defend yourself even if you are "no billed" by a GJ. While it is better than what we had and much, much better than what people in some other states have, it still (in my opinion) doesn't go far enough. What "I" think it should say is that "a criminal injured or killed while actively involved in the commission of a violent crime may not file a civil suit nor seek damages for injuries sustained while commiting said crime. This will also apply to his survivors".

I've heard that alot of the D.A.'s and Prosecutors are upset with the new law because they feel it shifts the responsibility from the Defendant having to prove he's innocent to them having to prove he's guilty. The weird thing is I seem to remember something from long ago about a person being "innocent until proven guilty" so apparently this isn't a new idea.

[turbo2ltr]

Thanks for the clarification Rodney. I thought if it really did give true immunity from a civil suit that it would be something big, but so much for that.