I Told Ya So: Texas Man Cleared for Killing Burglars

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HoreTore

It's the same here, and also what I was told to do in the army.

---

:dizzy2:

Do the authorities not realize how far a bullet can fly and still be lethal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

I was taught to only draw if I intended to kill, and only to kill if my life was at imminent risk. If you’re firing warning shots and leg shots and all that cowboy crap, you probably shouldn’t be shooting at all – just like dude in the story.

---

Police are trained differently from your average civilian self-defense course. Their function is different, so their training is different. This is a basic problem when people think, for example, that soldiers and police are interchangeable.

If a civilian draws a gun, he'd better be ready to use it. I can think of a number of situations in which a cop would draw a gun with only a marginal possibility of firing it. Heck, I've seen a couple of those situations.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that it's perfectly understandable for a police officer to give some sort of warning before firing on a suspect. Not sure that a "warning shot" is the best possible solution, but it's not completely absurd, either.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lemur

Police are trained differently from your average civilian self-defense course. Their function is different, so their training is different. This is a basic problem when people think, for example, that soldiers and police are interchangeable.

If a civilian draws a gun, he'd better be ready to use it. I can think of a number of situations in which a cop would draw a gun with only a marginal possibility of firing it. Heck, I've seen a couple of those situations.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that it's perfectly understandable for a police officer to give some sort of warning before firing on a suspect. Not sure that a "warning shot" is the best possible solution, but it's not completely absurd, either.

---

Very true. Drawing is far different than shooting, though. Police definitely draw their weapons quite a bit, but it would be interesting to see if warning shots are SOP in some of these larger urban areas. I know here in Memphis the cops are trained not to do that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Do the authorities not realize how far a bullet can fly and still be lethal.

---

I'd say about..... 5 metres?

Warning shots aren't fired up in the air, you know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HoreTore

I'd say about..... 5 metres?

Warning shots aren't fired up in the air, you know.

---

Physics must work differently up there. In any event, I'd hate to be in front of someone firing a warning shot onto a city street.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PanzerJaeger

Physics must work differently up there. In any event, I'd hate to be in front of someone firing a warning shot onto a city street.

---

Well where I was standing guard there was a mud road, so they should be safe enough....

And remember that cops aren't allowed to carry firearms in this country.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HoreTore

Well where I was standing guard there was a mud road, so they should be safe enough....

And remember that cops aren't allowed to carry firearms in this country.

---

Oh, ok. I didn't know that. :oops:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HoreTore

Well where I was standing guard there was a mud road, so they should be safe enough....

And remember that cops aren't allowed to carry firearms in this country.

---

They throw their baton in the air instead :laugh4:

Shooting downwards is not always as safe as you might think.

Quote:

---

A 25-year-old man pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment after shooting into a lake in the direction of a campground, not realizing his bullets were bouncing off the water and forcing campers to seek cover, authorities said.

---

CR

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

Shooting downwards is not always as safe as you might think.

---

Shooting into the ground is still SOP here in San Diego County with the PD's, after a couple of errant air-shots of warning in the early 80's (I'm told).

On "Interior Guard" at Ft Knox, '72 (non-combat zone), the Army called for an air-shot of warning with your sidearm, a three-second count, then engage the target, center-of-mass, with your main firearm (shotgun, M14 or M16, depending on what you were guarding) while yelling for the Commander of Relief. I wonder if that has changed.

Note: I never had opportunity to employ that SOP; my guard duty there was remarkably unremarkable.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lemur

Are you referring to the "castle doctrine"? 'Cause that doesn't apply in this case, although many people thought it did. Here's the relevant bit of Texas code:

According to the statute, deadly force is justified if the shooter "reasonably believes" it's immediately necessary to stop the burglars from escaping with the stolen property. It's also justified if the shooter "reasonably believes" that "the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means."

---

I LIKE this law!!!
:hmg:
:hmg:
:hmg: