TexasCHLforum.com

Keith B wrote:

Valk wrote:Sorry guys,

I'm really at a loss in reading your comments. Where are all of the "come take it" people. Where are all the folks who can recite all the constitutional amendments? Did I miss it or has someone said you have the right to protect your property.

It is my property and I will go to great lengths to protect it.

Like it or not, I stopped them BEFORE any damage occurred.

I think you need to go back and read TPC 9.41 and 9.42 on use of force/deadly force to protect property and just what is justifiable. http://law.onecle.com/texas/penal/9.41.00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. http://law.onecle.com/texas/penal/9.42.00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry chief. I don't follow url(s) on this board or any others.

I'm done on this thread.

Sorry guys,

I'm really at a loss in reading your comments. Where are all of the "come take it" people. Where are all the folks who can recite all the constitutional amendments? Did I miss it or has someone said you have the right to protect your property.

It is my property and I will go to great lengths to protect it.

Like it or not, I stopped them BEFORE any damage occurred.

Jim Beaux wrote:Valk, Im not trying to pile on here, but I feel an obligation to tell you that if the situation you outlined had escalated and you ended up in court on a gun related charge, I think that the majority here, if on the jury,would probably have voted to convict.

CHL or not, you cannot initiate a confrontation and expect to be able to use your weapon to settle what basically is a civil matter. Think it through, there are so many avenues you can take to ensure your property rights and they all are cheaper than using your gun.

Im sure one of our fellow lawyers will be by soon and have something to contribute.

I did not initiate a confrontation. I didn't say a word. My gun was over 50 feet away and I would have had to go around 2 cars and a motorcycle. I'm sure I could have taken at least 2 of them. The other 3 would have had to wait their turn. My next step, had they not changed their plan, would have forced their hand because they would have had to run over me.

RPBrown wrote:But in the OP, you said you went back in and got your pistol and laid it out of site (personally I carry mine with me off or on my property but I have a CHL) Again, try talking to them first. Be friendly and explain that you do not want them crossing your property. At that point, you have given effective trespass notice and if they do come across your property, you should call LEO.

Not trying to dog on you, just offering alternate ways of handling things. I have met some of my neighbors by accident just by asking questions similar to this.

I can’t help it if I look like Luca Brasi (I’m not as big and am more handsome), but I “do have a look” (as was told to me by my neighbor after Hurricane Rita). I knew my (former) neighbors were getting ripped off by a contractor from Houston, and she asked me to come over and join her for their meeting. She would be asking the contractor for their money back. She said I didn't have to say anything, just sit there. I thought that was very funny as I do not see myself that way.

RPBrown wrote:I have to agree with some of the above.
1) why did you go back inside to get your gun? Did they have weapons? If so I can understand but I would probably guess no (other than tools)
2) Why did you not ask their intent? Then express your concern
3) Why did you not offer a viable alternative to using your yard. (If they had even planned on using it)
4) It appears to me you were de-escalating before any escalation even happened. This is not a good thing, especially if you are armed.

Remember, your CHL and your weapon does not replace the best tool you have, your brain. You have to really know when you would have to use it or expect a whole lot of trouble coming your way.

At no time was I armed. This happened BEFORE I got a CHL.

Their plan was to come up my driveway and make a turn on the side of my house and then head for the neighbor’s gate. They had a straight shot from the street to the neighbor's gate.

My purpose was to stop them from coming in my yard and leaving tracks.

KC5AV wrote:If I understand your original post correctly, you said the neighbor had flowerbeds with edging, etc. If they had to move that stuff before bringing the equipment through, they most likely thought that going through your yard would save them time. It's likely in their best interest to get a job done as quickly as possible.

In the OP I did say there was nothing in the flower bed and they could have easily rolled over it.

Questions still remain. Why my yard? What happened to someone knocking on the door to let me know what was about to take place?

Does anyone have a right to use your property to reach your neighbors house? I know there are utility easements in the front and in the back of properties, and I also know that a company that has mineral rights on your property can erect an oil derrick and drill for oil, without your permission. But what about the side of your home?

This event occurred prior to obtaining my CHL.

I am home all day and I always check outside when I hear cars or diesel engines coming and stop near my house. One day I heard a diesel and I looked out and saw a fire engine in front of my house. I freaked and ran outside. They were painting a fire hydrant.

On another day I heard 2 trucks stop and I went to peek out my window. I saw 2 trucks with trailers. They were contractors, but I did not recognize their out of state company. They had two large pieces of equipment with tracks. They had parked one of their trucks with trailers in front of my house and one in front of my next door neighbor’s house to perform a service in the neighbors back yard. Till this day, I don’t know what was done. Homes in our neighborhood are only about 12-15 feet apart.

As they were unloading the equipment, I opened my garage door walked out and stood on my driveway.

The contractors certainly intended to use my driveway and the side of my house to get to the job instead of using my neighbor’s yard. My neighbor has a flower bed with the long sectional flat cement curves all the way to the property line on the side of my house. They could have easily driven over his flower bed as there were no flowers or trees. Since there were 5 contractors, I went back into my house and grabbed my pistol and placed it in the garage without them ever suspecting anything. As they approached my driveway from the street, I walked back out to my driveway and although I didn't say anything, I moved my head slowly from side to side, definitely letting them know that they would not be leaving tracks and destroying my yard. They ended up moving the equipment through my neighbor’s yard with the edge of the tracks right on the property line.

I altered their behavior without saying a word.

So now that I have a CHL, I don’t see myself doing anything other than what I did, except I may be armed from the start. I still have to disagree with open carry on my property because I have a cop across the street with cameras on his house and a state trooper at the end of the street. As I have said in another thread, if I were to strap my pistol on my person and walk around my yard, a 10-32 (man with a gun) would be called out from the police dispatcher very quickly. NOTE I am not trying to fan those flames.

If you tell someone they are trespassing and they don’t stop or leave, what’s next?