Shooting through the front door at night.

[philip964]

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There have been questions about whether it would be legal to shoot a BG on the other side of your closed front door if it was at night.

Well it appears the BG's have settled this question once and for all, yes you are in danger and now can be in a fear of your life if BG's are at your front door.

The BG's fired through the front door and injured the woman homeowner behind her closed front door last night.

[fickman]

"Be sure of your target and what is beyond your target" applies even during an emergency. I could justify shooting through a glass door or a door with a window, but I won't fire blindly through a solid door.

Everybody should think through home defense what-if scenarios. If an intruder is trying to compromise your door, you need a tactical position tthat gives you visibility to know what's happening without putting you in a compromised position. (Retreating to a safe spot and waiting won't work with kids in separate bedrooms throughout the house.) I'd then make an "if-then" decision. Normally, I expect mine will be: if that door opens, anybody coming through is going to be met with overwhelming defensive force.

I look out my dining room window to see unexpected guests on the sidewalk before looking through the peephole on the door. If my internal alarms are going off, I stay away from the door altogether.

[Purplehood]

I honestly don't know what I would do.

My suspicion is that if someone were attempting to break-down my door and were not responding to my verbal demands for ID (make sure it isn't my son), or, were already putting rounds through my door; that I would respond by emptying my magazine through the door.

I would really hate to see that scenario.

[MoJo]

Shooting blindly through a door is not a good thing. Stay away from the door, go to your strong point, call the police, and wait. Shoot only if you are threatened. Do not try to clear your house alone. Shoot only if you are in danger.

[texanjoker]

Tactically speaking, do not stand IFO the door. Door ways are deadly. Get off to the side or further back. Look at your home and develop a plan. It doesn't have to be a written plan, but have an idea in your head what you would do. This will save your bacon God forbid it happens.

For me, I have thought about this. My home is perfect as the stairway goes off and above so I can take a position of cover upstairs and cover the door. Whoever entered would be walking right into what some call the fatal funnel. Before we ever get to that, I hope the lighting, alarms and other security measures would cause them to go else where, but you never know.

I should add, IF I were to open my door at night, I'll have my trusty police k9 with me.

[Birdie]

I need some type of camera set up for my front door. I have a frosted window in the door, but can't see through it enough to identify friend or foe. The nearby kitchen window doesn't allow me to see the whole porch. And the door itself is in a foyer that is only door width. There is no standing to side of the door while addressing someone through it. Perhaps I need a speaker too.

[Redneck_Buddha]

I need some type of camera set up for my front door. I have a frosted window in the door, but can't see through it enough to identify friend or foe. The nearby kitchen window doesn't allow me to see the whole porch. And the door itself is in a foyer that is only door width. There is no standing to side of the door while addressing someone through it. Perhaps I need a speaker too.

Even though I am a soon to be CHL, love firearms, love watching tactical training videos, and attending tactical training classes I still dread the prospect of one day having to use my firearm in a home defense scenario. For this reason, I am looking at home fortification up to the strongest practical level including surveillance, alarms, kickplates, etc...

[tbrown]

Unless your house is on fire, I think it's reasonable to assume the guy breaking down your door doesn't have your best interest at heart. If I was on a jury, it would depend if any innocents were hurt or only the home invaders got hurt. In the second case, I could not in good conscience convict the defender no matter what some lawyer says.

[fickman]

Unless your house is on fire, I think it's reasonable to assume the guy breaking down your door doesn't have your best interest at heart. If I was on a jury, it would depend if any innocents were hurt or only the home invaders got hurt. In the second case, I could not in good conscience convict the defender no matter what some lawyer says.

I think it's clear as day you're allowed to blow away the BG through the door. It's the innocents.

These are all very unlikely, but so is the original scenario, and it still happened:
- What if he's at the end of a crime spree and has a hostage?
- What if the teenager across the street is leaning against his car making out with his girlfriend?
- What if the commotion caused your neighbor across the street to step out on his porch and see what's going on?
- What if somebody who lives a block away is walking their dog in front of your house right as you pull the trigger?

Taking a blind shot can have a lot of unintended consequences.

[Dragonfighter]

Shooting blindly through a door is not a good thing. Stay away from the door, go to your strong point, call the police, and wait. Shoot only if you are threatened. Do not try to clear your house alone. Shoot only if you are in danger.

How much danger? If you are tactically staying away from the door, retreated to a strong point and calling 911...you're in danger.

[S_3]

I think it depends where you live, doesn't it? Somebody on their 25ac homestead might have different concerns than somebody living in a high rise apartment.

You also have to think how long you're willing to wait. A mere 1/10 second after he breaks down the door, do you really have time to see and process what's behind the door kicker? A half second after the door comes down and the invader has crossed the threshold, and blocking the doorway with his body, what do you think you'll know that you didn't know a half second earlier? A second earlier?

[C-dub]

It's not a good idea, but the few times it has happened the homeowner/shooter was no billed. There was that musician that was shot here in Dallas a few years ago. He was drunk and banging on the wrong house's door, yelling, and making threats and the homeowner kept telling the guy he had the wrong house from inside. The homeowner thought he would fire a shot over the guy's head through the door, but what he couldn't tell was that the musician was about 6'6" and caught it in the head. There's been one or two other instances, but I can't remember any details.

I don't think I would do it, but I can't say that I would never do it. We have a long hallway from the front door to the rest of the house. If I had the time I would setup at the end of that hallway to one side or the other depending on which part of the house I happen to be in at the time. Otherwise I'll either wait in the bedroom or go out to help the three GSDs depending on how they're doing. If they are just getting shot I'll wait, but if they are putting up a good fight I'll assist.

[Skiprr]

There have been questions about whether it would be legal to shoot a BG on the other side of your closed front door if it was at night.

Well it appears the BG's have settled this question once and for all, yes you are in danger and now can be in a fear of your life if BG's are at your front door.

You do know, of course, that "in fear for [or of] your life" appears nowhere in the Texas Penal Code?

The closest is §29.02(a)(3) AGGRAVATED ROBBERY: "Causes bodily injury to another person or threatens or places another person in fear of imminent bodily injury or death, if the other person is:

1. 65 years of age or older; or
2. a disabled person.

And:

§42.01(e) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under Subsection (a)(7) or (9) that the person who discharged the firearm had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to the person or to another by a dangerous wild animal as defined by Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code.

We see "in fear of [for] your life" frequently on this Forum.

In fact, "fear" is not a justification for use of deadly force.

And understandably so.

Fear is an emotional response. If you ever need to defend yourself with a firearm, you'd better be able to substantiate your actions with more than "I was afraid."

[C-dub]

PC §9.32. DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON. (a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and
(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
(A) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.
(b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used:
(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;
(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or
(C) was committing or attempting to commit an offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B);
(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and
(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.
(c) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the deadly force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the
60 TEXAS CONCEALED HANDGUN LAWS
deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this section.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), in determining whether an actor described by Subsection (c) reasonably believed that the use of
deadly force was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat.

It isn't the exact wording, but isn't that what the part I've emboldened means?