This chapter covers the usage of force including deadly force, self defense, protection of property, protection of people, threats, and other issues. Please read through the laws in their entirety to gain understanding about the responsibility you hold as a gun owner. There are many misconceptions about the use of force in Texas.Chapter 9 – Use of Force & Self Defense in Texas.
This website is not meant to be legal counsel. We are not lawyers.
Sec. 9.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) “Custody” has the meaning assigned by Section
38.01.
(2) “Escape” has the meaning assigned by Section
38.01.
(3) “Deadly force” means force that is intended
or known by the actor to cause, or in the manner of its use or intended use
is capable of causing, death or serious bodily injury.
(4) “Habitation” has the meaning assigned by Section
30.01.
(5) “Vehicle” has the meaning assigned by Section
30.01.
Sec. 9.02. JUSTIFICATION AS A DEFENSE.
It is a defense to prosecution that the conduct in question
is justified under this chapter.
Sec. 9.03. CONFINEMENT AS JUSTIFIABLE FORCE.
Confinement is justified when force is justified by
this chapter if the actor takes reasonable measures to terminate the confinement
as soon as he knows he safely can unless the person confined has been arrested
for an offense.
Sec. 9.04. THREATS AS JUSTIFIABLE FORCE.
The threat of force is justified when the use of force
is justified by this chapter. For purposes of this section, a threat to cause
death or serious bodily injury by the production of a weapon or otherwise, as
long as the actor’s purpose is limited to creating an apprehension that he will
use deadly force if necessary, does not constitute the use of deadly force.
Sec. 9.05. RECKLESS INJURY OF INNOCENT THIRD PERSON.
Even though an actor is justified under this chapter
in threatening or using force or deadly force against another, if in doing so
he also recklessly injures or kills an innocent third person, the justification
afforded by this chapter is unavailable in a prosecution for the reckless injury
or killing of the innocent third person.
Sec. 9.06. CIVIL REMEDIES UNAFFECTED.
The fact that conduct is justified under this chapter
does not abolish or impair any remedy for the conduct that is available in a
civil suit.
SUBCHAPTER B. JUSTIFICATION GENERALLY
Sec. 9.21. PUBLIC DUTY.
(a) Except as qualified by Subsections (b) and (c),
conduct is justified if the actor reasonably believes the conduct is required
or authorized by law, by the judgment or order of a competent court or other
governmental tribunal, or in the execution of legal process.
(b) The other sections of this chapter control when force
is used against a person to protect persons (Subchapter C), to protect property
(Subchapter D), for law enforcement (Subchapter E), or by virtue of a special
relationship (Subchapter F).
(c) The use of deadly force is not justified under this section
unless the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is specifically required
by statute or unless it occurs in the lawful conduct of war. If deadly force
is so justified, there is no duty to retreat before using it.
(d) The justification afforded by this section is available
if the actor reasonably believes:
(1) the court or governmental tribunal has jurisdiction or
the process is lawful, even though the court or governmental tribunal lacks
jurisdiction or the process is unlawful; or
(2) his conduct is required or authorized to assist a public
servant in the performance of his official duty, even though the servant exceeds
his lawful authority.
Sec. 9.22. NECESSITY
Conduct is justified if:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the conduct is immediately
necessary to avoid imminent harm;
(2) the desirability and urgency of avoiding the harm clearly
outweigh, according to ordinary standards of reasonableness, the harm sought
to be prevented by the law proscribing the conduct; and
(3) a legislative purpose to exclude the justification claimed
for the conduct does not otherwise plainly appear.
SUBCHAPTER C. PROTECTION OF PERSONS
Sec. 9.31. SELF-DEFENSE
(a)
Except as provided in Subsection (b), a person is justified in using force against
another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately
necessary to protect the actor against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful
force. The actor’s belief that the force was immediately necessary as described
by this subsection is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom
the 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 aggravated kidnapping,
murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery;
(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.
(b) The use of force against another is not justified:
(1) in response to verbal provocation alone;
(2) to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows is being
made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace officer’s presence
and at his direction, even though the arrest or search is unlawful, unless the
resistance is justified under Subsection (c);
(3) if the actor consented to the exact force used or attempted
by the other;
(4) if the actor provoked the other’s use or attempted use of
unlawful force, unless:
(A) the actor abandons the encounter, or clearly communicates
to the other his intent to do so reasonably believing he cannot safely abandon
the encounter; and
(B) the other nevertheless continues or attempts to use unlawful
force against the actor; or
(5) if the actor sought an explanation from or discussion with
the other person concerning the actor’s differences with the other person while
the actor was:
(A) carrying a weapon in violation of Section 46.02; or
(B) possessing or transporting a weapon in violation of Section
46.05.
(c) The use of force to resist an arrest or search is justified:
(1) if, before the actor offers any resistance, the peace officer
(or person acting at his direction) uses or attempts to use greater force than
necessary to make the arrest or search; and
(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force
is immediately necessary to protect himself against the peace officer’s (or
other person’s) use or attempted use of greater force than necessary.
(d) The use of deadly force is not justified under this subchapter
except as provided in Sections 9.32, 9.33, and 9.34.
(e) A person who has a right to be present at the location where
the force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the force is
used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the force is used
is not required to retreat before using force as described by this section.
(f) For purposes of Subsection (a), in determining whether an
actor described by Subsection (e) reasonably believed that the use of force
was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to
retreat.
Sec. 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 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.
Sec. 9.33. DEFENSE OF THIRD PERSON.
A
person is justified in using force or deadly force against another to protect
a third person if:
(1) under the circumstances as the actor reasonably believes
them to be, the actor would be justified under Section 9.31 or 9.32 in using
force or deadly force to protect himself against the unlawful force or unlawful
deadly force he reasonably believes to be threatening the third person he seeks
to protect; and
(2) the actor reasonably believes that his intervention is
immediately necessary to protect the third person.
Sec. 9.34. PROTECTION OF LIFE OR HEALTH.
(a) A person is justified in using force, but not deadly
force, against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force
is immediately necessary to prevent the other from committing suicide or inflicting
serious bodily injury to himself.
(b) A person is justified in using both force and deadly
force against another when and to the degree he reasonably believes the force
or deadly force is immediately necessary to preserve the other’s life in an
emergency.
SUBCHAPTER D. PROTECTION OF PROPERTY
Sec. 9.41. PROTECTION OF ONE’S OWN PROPERTY.
(a) A person in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable
property is justified in using force against another when and to the degree
the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent
or terminate the other’s trespass on the land or unlawful interference with
the property.
(b) A person unlawfully dispossessed of land or tangible, movable
property by another is justified in using force against the other when and to
the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary
to reenter the land or recover the property if the actor uses the force immediately
or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession and:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the other had no claim
of right when he dispossessed the actor; or
(2) the other accomplished the dispossession by using force,
threat, or fraud against the actor.
Sec. 9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY.
A
person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or
tangible, movable property:
(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other
under Section 9.41; and
(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force
is immediately necessary:
(A) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of arson,
burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal
mischief during the nighttime; or
(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after
committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime
from escaping with the property; and
(3) he reasonably believes that:
(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered
by any other means; or
(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or
recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial
risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Sec. 9.43. PROTECTION OF THIRD PERSON’S PROPERTY.
A person is justified in using force or deadly force against
another to protect land or tangible, movable property of a third person if,
under the circumstances as he reasonably believes them to be, the actor would
be justified under Section 9.41 or 9.42 in using force or deadly force to protect
his own land or property and:
(1) the actor reasonably believes the unlawful interference constitutes
attempted or consummated theft of or criminal mischief to the tangible, movable
property; or
(2) the actor reasonably believes that:
(A) the third person has requested his protection of the
land or property;
(B) he has a legal duty to protect the third person’s land
or property; or
(C) the third person whose land or property he uses force
or deadly force to protect is the actor’s spouse, parent, or child, resides
with the actor, or is under the actor’s care.
Sec. 9.44. USE OF DEVICE TO PROTECT PROPERTY.
The justification afforded by Sections 9.41 and 9.43 applies
to the use of a device to protect land or tangible, movable property if:
(1) the device is not designed to cause, or known by the
actor to create a substantial risk of causing, death or serious bodily injury;
and
(2) use of the device is reasonable under all the circumstances
as the actor reasonably believes them to be when he installs the device.
