Posted 2/12/2007 05:13:00 PM by Douglas

Don't break into a home in Texas.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio and Rep. Joe Driver of Garland have sponsored bills to have Texas join more than a dozen states with the so-called "Castle Doctrine," a sort of shoot-first, retreat-later approach to defending hearth, home, truck and business.

Essentially, the Castle Doctrine is born out of the common-law theory that a man's home is his castle and he has a right to defend it.

And although It would create a legal presumption that an intruder is there to cause death or great bodily harm and that victims have the right to use deadly force. He says current law in some instances imposes a duty to retreat before using potentially deadly force on an intruder.

Sucks to be an intruder looking down the barrel of a .357, but I have an easy remedy to that: KNOCK!

"I've lived in Texas 30-plus years and I would be astounded to hear of a Texas jury that convicted someone who blasted a guy who was in his house," Dowling said. "It would just be anathema to the culture down here."

Texas has some of the "broadest self defense" statues in the country, but does this give a blank check to shoot anyone in your home? No, it doesn't. Does it make it harder for the assailant's family to file wrongful death suit against you if you double-tap him in the face in your laundry room at 2:30 in the morning? Yes it does.

What I LOVE is the Left's ability to swallow, hook line and sinker the notion of "if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about" if an otherwise law abiding citizen is running a yellow light, yet that same presumption of innocence is lost if he shoots an intruder in his own home. The exact same logic applies to those breaking into houses: If you're not breaking into someone's house, you don't have anything to worry about.

Besides, shooting someone for no damn reason is already illegal.

"By God, the reasonable Texan never retreats."

Is it any reason I love this state?