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txinvestigator wrote:I agree with you 100%!

And that is why I also believe if you are ever so unfortunate to have to use your weapon against another even in the most righteous of shootings, you should say to the LEO that arrive when asked what happened, "I want to cooperate, and will fully cooperate once I have spoken to my attorney"

In this thread, if it actually occurred with me, when I said "I feared for my life", I may have hurt myself when what I meant was "I was in fear for my life because......deadly force........deadly force......." (Actual words crafted with assistance of counsel).

What I originally said in this thread was not what I meant or should have said, but since I actually said it, in the real world, that is what would have been recorded ('and possibly used against me in a court of law')

txinvestigator wrote: Texas does not allow deadly force if you are "in fear of your life". AS this is a seperate issue, I am going to start a new thread. I will link to it here after I post it.

What I should have said was "I was in fear for my life, because this person had his gun pointed at me 3 seconds ago. I managed to take the gun away from him, but he is continuing to assault me and is trying to take the weapon back from me. Due to his previous and continued attack utilizing the threat of deadly force with the weapon, I have every reason to believe he will immediately use the weapon against me. Since I cannot retreat, I may need to use the weapon to stop this threat of deadly force." Of course this all occurs in 0.1 seconds.

In other words, in txinvestigators example in the new thread, I agree, fear for my life is not justification at all. There is no immediate threat. However in the immediate, imminent danger of this scenario, I believe a case could be made for use of the weapon to stop the threat. This is more than fear, it is a reality that the assailent is attempting to use deadly force by taking the weapon to use against me. I also reiterate, If at all possible, I would put distance between myself and the assailant to make this all a moot point.

I promise, I'll move "fear for my life" comments and questions to the new thread now!!

Thanks for the great discussion and input...

txinvestigator wrote: Texas does not allow deadly force if you are "in fear of your life". AS this is a seperate issue, I am going to start a new thread. I will link to it here after I post it.

So how would we reconcile that if he attempts to get the weapon back via a wrestling match, he has not exerted 'deadly force' until he actually has the weapon(?!?). At that point he it may be too late for you. At what point does fear for your life, real fear due to tha fact that 5 seconds ago he was pointing a gun at you, become use of deadly force as he comes at you again with very recent history of attempted aggravated robbery against you?

I agree that the best course of action is to put distance between you and him if you can. But if you can't for whatever valid reason, contained between buildings or something, what would you do. If he comes at you in that circumstance, you have two choices, prepare for a wrestling match and risk that the weapon will be used against you by someone who has already indicated by action that they would use it or use the weapon to prevent that.

I'm not trying to argue or be a smart mouth. this just has me thinking, which is good! But my personal philosphy (from an earlier post) is I'm a firm believer that situational awareness is your #1 weapon, de-escalation (apologize, leave, whatever it takes) is #2, and the firearm is #last.

Agree, to run away is the best option. And is what is required if possible.

Assuming the events occurred as described (you didn't provoke the attack) and if you do manage to separate the weapon from the attacker, and you do not fire the weapon, whether the assailant is compliant or runs away, I cannot imagine any charges being filed against you and almost no jury in Texas would ever convict you of anything. Nuances of the law aside, it ain't gonna happen in my opinion.

If it were me, as long as the assailant was standing in striking distance, he looks at the weapon pointed at him. If he sits or lays down as commanded, the weapon points safely at the ground, while I back away to a relatively safe distance until LEO arrives.

If he lunges, you can assume he is going for the weapon, therefore I fear for my life (assuming he isn't 4' and 75lbs), and I would use the force required to stop the threat.

Just one opinion....