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A story about the Castle doctrine and the 48 justified shootings in Texas last year. Not a lot of sole searching about why these criminals were robbing and breaking into peoples houses. The article says homeowners have greater right to use deadly force than the police in these circumstances. The Brady group is not happy. Apparently they would prefer the homeowner not have a gun and is killed or injured by the criminal. Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

Killings by civilians long have piqued national outcries over the use of deadly force and whether it was necessary

...and the killings OF civilians during robberies is OK because, after all, they are just victims

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 520427.php

No "piqued national outcry" for situations like these. Sheesh. What a biased piece. Where is the analysis on the overall crime rate at the same time? Where are the statistics about peoples lives saved by using deadly force? Nope, just the lead off example of a thief dying over $20.

The reporter claims Texans no longer have a duty to retreat. When was there ever a duty to retreat in Texas?

philip964 wrote:http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... php#page-1

A story about the Castle doctrine and the 48 justified shootings in Texas last year. Not a lot of sole searching about why these criminals were robbing and breaking into peoples houses. The article says homeowners have greater right to use deadly force than the police in these circumstances. The Brady group is not happy. Apparently they would prefer the homeowner not have a gun and is killed or injured by the criminal. Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

I'd bet, if I had the time, I could find stats that would show that the number has not actually increased but the definition has shifted. A "justified" shooting was previously found after a grand jury no-bill or acquittal at a trial. In either case labeling it as justified would not, IMO, be how it was classified. Now with an affirmative defense, some shootings are ruled "justified".

philip964 wrote: The Brady group is not happy.

So that's, what... 22 unhappy people vs dozens of safe citizens?

philip964 wrote:Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

Residual Katrina refugees?

TxRVer wrote:The reporter claims Texans no longer have a duty to retreat. When was there ever a duty to retreat in Texas?

Prior to 1977: No duty to retreat anywhere in Texas
1977 - 1995: Duty to retreat everywhere, including in your home
1995 - 2007: No duty to retreat in your home, but the duty existed outside your home
2007 - Present: No duty to retreat anywhere you are legally standing when deadly force is used if: 1) you didn't provoke the person; and 2) you were not committing a crime.

Chas.

Rex B wrote: Residual Katrina refugees?

TxRVer wrote:The reporter claims Texans no longer have a duty to retreat. When was there ever a duty to retreat in Texas?

IIRC, prior to 2007, we had a duty to retreat when confronted by a criminal outside of our houses in public. The 2007 Castle Doctrine removed the duty to retreat and protected those whose acts are justified from civil lawsuits.

To my knowledge, we've never been obligated to retreat inside of our houses.

I'm sure somebody will come along with more details.

fickman wrote:To my knowledge, we've never been obligated to retreat inside of our houses.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:1977 - 1995: Duty to retreat everywhere, including in your home

There you go. I stand corrected!

fickman wrote:I'm sure somebody will come along with more details.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:Chas.

. . . and they might come along while I've got my edit window open.

Thanks for filling in the history lesson, Chas!

Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

It's probably because of the Chronicle's fuzzy math... it's a shame that a city as large as Houston only has one newspaper.

77346 wrote:Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

It's probably because of the Chronicle's fuzzy math... it's a shame that a city as large as Houston only has one newspaper.

Where is Marvin Zindler when you need him?

It's like saying more people were killed in car accidents and not referring to the number of cars on the road or the number of miles driven.

We need to see all the statistics: murder, no-bill, etc. by year since 2007 by CHL status of both parties. Then a reasonable conclusion could be drawn.

I always love it when the "paper" says "x was up 700% this year" when last year there were 2.

77346 wrote:Not sure why Houston has so many more justified killings than Dallas, more criminals or better shooters?

It's probably because of the Chronicle's fuzzy math... it's a shame that a city as large as Houston only has one newspaper.

After trying the Houston Chronicle for a few weeks, a more accurate statement would be that Houston doesn't have any newspapers.

It does, however, have a publication that offers home delivery of ads and coupons for a fee that would buy a newspaper if there was one.

Excaliber wrote:After trying the Houston Chronicle for a few weeks, a more accurate statement would be that Houston doesn't have any newspapers.

I hear that's been true ever since the Public News folded.

a more accurate statement would be that Houston doesn't have any newspapers.

Sadly, it's true! We don't call it the Houston Comical for nothing!