Texas – -(AmmoLand.com)- One of the best ways we can best defend the Second Amendment is to learn from the mistakes of the past. The lessons that we can learn came at a great cost to those who didn’t get it right, and they paid dearly for it. Some people paid in blood for those mistakes, other people paid for their errors in lost liberty.
The fact is, when people are carrying arms – either openly or concealed – they are carrying the power to end someone’s life. The right to keep and bear arms comes with a great responsibility – and Second Amendment supporters have to keep that in mind. With this in mind, we shall take a look at two incidents in Texas that recently hit the news. Learn from the mistakes made here to not only keep yourselves safe, but to also help preserve our Second Amendment rights.
The first was the verdict in the trial of a police officer who went to the wrong apartment and shot the resident there dead, believing she was facing an intruder in her apartment. That officer was recently convicted of murder and sentenced to ten years in prison. It’s a nightmare for all concerned. What can Second Amendment supporters learn from this?
The big lesson from this is, there are times when one shouldn’t be exercising the right to keep and bear arms. When you are feeling the effects of alcohol, fatigue, illness, or medication to the point it impairs your judgement or your awareness of your surroundings is one of those times. It should go without saying, but in this case, there is a tragic reminder.
The second big lesson is to be aware of your surroundings. If something seems off, take the time to stop and assess things before continuing. It may save your life. There is no shame in backing away if something seems off, and just calling for help. A hassle is far better than a tragedy.
The other Texas case involved a homeowner who confronted a burglar and fired shots. The burglar fled and was later found dead. In this case, we have a classic example of stupidity displayed by a lack of proper previous planning and preparation. The homeowner reportedly went back to bed, and only after he realized he had hit the suspect did he call 911. He’s now facing charges.
If you are going to be exercising your Second Amendment rights for the purposes of personal protection, you need to have a plan and be prepared for the aftermath. Get the proper training so you have the knowledge of what to do. Practice at the range – be sure you know your self-protection equipment.
Sign up for USCCA, NRA Carry Guard, or both so that you will be able to not just get training to survive the encounter, but to also obtain solid representation from an attorney who specializes in self-defense law, and to make sure that you don’t get bankrupted by legal fees should you have to exercise your Second Amendment rights for personal protection. The relatively small investments in time and money could save your life, liberty, and financial future down the road.
You must also have a plan for the aftermath of when you have to actually use your Second Amendment rights for personal protection. NRA Carry Guard offers a free guide for the aftermath of a self-defense encounter, with no obligation to purchase anything. If you own firearms for personal protection, reading this is part of responsibly exercising your Second Amendment rights.
Self-protection is a core purpose behind the Second Amendment. That said, with the right to keep and bear arms comes the responsibility to ensure that we are exercising our Second Amendment rights in a reasonable and prudent manner. One of the best defenses for the Second Amendment is to show by example the responsible exercising of our right to keep and bear arms. Part of that responsibility is learning from others’ tragic mistakes so that they are not repeated.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
Harold Hutchison, NRA Carry Guard is a Web site. That’s it! NRA Carry Guard Insurance is dead. NRA Carry Guard Training is dead too. Both are prime examples of the NRA leadership’s mismanagement, incompetence and corruption. Both were huge financial and legal losses.
The NRA threw the USCCA out of the 2017 NRA Annual Meeting and has not been invited back since. The NRA tried to copy the USCCA’s successful business model and not only failed spectacularly, but also created legal blowback for the USCCA and other self defense insurances.
TEXAS INCICENT?…Did anyone ever think that a white police officer (woman or not), that shot a black person in his own apartment, would ever get off? ..The case should have been a LOCAL news story only.. The only reason that case was brought forward was to Gin up hatred against police officers and white people in general…The moronic officer should have pled the case out and never took it to trial.. The district attorney even overcharged the female officer to make a bigger spectacle out of it …That low life democrat prosecutor even brought out so-called racist text messages to… Read more »
@24and7 – The best way to overcome popular racism outcry following such incidents and anger against whites – is to stick to our founding father’s statements. “we either hang together, or we will surely hang separately”. A shooting like this one is worthy of an outcry from all who support liberty and justice. Full stop – race has nothing to do with whether this shooting was wrong or not. Right or wrong, many blacks and latinos believe that they are on their own, without support or understanding from those in power (in their minds this means all white people). Ongoing… Read more »
It’s truly sad, the situation we have with OUR NRA. Forged out of the lessons and travails of the Civil War by true patriots, the NRA, for almost two hundred years, has stood at the forefront as the preeminent and largest civil rights, member-supported organization in the world. I have been one of those priveleged to have seen the NRA evolve into the power-house it has become today. Unfortunately, this means I have also seen NRA’s more recent plunge into a pool of corruption. Formerly led by respected people from business and politics, the NRA appears now to have almost… Read more »
@Pat, Almost succumbed to graft? Yes, lets work together, but I am still not sending WLP any more money because it would just go for his house, car, and suits, when it could go to Second Amendment defense.
Well said to an extent, I’m also a member of every organization you listed “except BFA” along with a few others. As far as the nra I’m sure you realize they are a sore subject for many, especially on here and should be prepared for a good verbal beating. I myself am not exactly blindly pissed at the nra, more disappointed and saddened that corruption and greed creeped into an organization that I was very proud to be a member of. I don’t bash them but will not give them a penny until the problems are fixed. I’m a patron… Read more »
Voting members have no power in the NRA! That should be blear by now.
Ghost Tactical posted on YouTube a video discussion between Rob Pincus and others, titled “Rob Pincus Joins: What Really Happened at NRA Board Meeting? Armed Citizen Podcast LIVE #105”. Listen to this discussion!
I just did. I dare these WLP cheerleaders to listen also, and tell me that this NRA meeting wasn’t ran exactly like an MDA gathering, or any other anti organization! If the NRA at this point isn’t a wholly owned subsidiary of bloomberg inc., I’ll eat my hat.
You may want to listen to the Save the Second Podcast Episode 5 from today, which is right now only of Facebook but I guess will be later uploaded to YouTube. Starting at about minute 25, Ron Carter talks about him being deposed by the NRA’s law firm in the NRA vs. Ackerman McQueen lawsuit. This is allegedly about finding the leaker of those damaging NRA documents (Wayne’s receipts etc.), but really more about Bill Brewer’s law firm milking the NRA. I am pretty sure that this nonsensical deposition has cost the NRA easily $100k. Rob Pincus was deposed too… Read more »
The Schadenfreude exercise of “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” you are talking about is really just the realization that the NRA has been broken beyond repair by its leadership. There is no Schadenfreude involved. Even Rob Pincus agrees that the best way to help the NRA right now is not to send any money. The current NRA leadership is empowering our enemies by continuing with their mismanagement and corruption. NRA members not contributing to the NRA are just innocent bystanders. If you have a better plan to save the NRA from itself, other than to defund it, I… Read more »
I have a bumper sticker signed by LaPierre, Been thinking about setting up an auction with the winner choosing what second amendment group all of the money would be donated to. Only catch is they would have to record whatever destructive fate that falls on said sticker for all to see.
@Stuck in Commie Ct
How about “Death by double-ought DP-12”? 😀
A lot of misinformation in this article, so much so I think it should be removed.
I am certainly at a loss to understand what statute the Homeowner is in violation of. If I were his council I would make that point repeatedly, vigorously , vociferously. Both to the Court and to the Public. One the Criminal was not a Burglar.. he is a Home Invader.. People were present in the residence he attempted to Invade ( to what degree is not specified in the article). The deceased engaged in a criminal act, the homeowner responded and the police have already tacitly acknowledged that… The right against self incrimination completely insulates holding the victim/homeowner responsible for… Read more »
He was charged with murder and arrested: https://pix11.com/2019/10/02/man-arrested-on-murder-charge-after-fatally-shooting-intruder-going-back-to-bed/ Your argument about a home invasion does not match the facts stated by the homeowner himself. The burglar tried to get into an unoccupied storage shed. The homeowner went outside to confront the burglar. He shot at the burglar. The burglar dropped the pickax he was holding and ran off. Then, the homeowner shot at the burglar running away. He fired a shot at an unarmed fleeing person that was not a threat. That one shot was apparently the kill shot. That shot got him the murder charge. The homeowner also picked… Read more »
I certainly understand your point with regards to the Outbuilding However the Property was occupied Therefor breaking into or attempting to break into any building on the property with the residents present constitutes a Home Invasion. Let’s look at it like this.. If the homeowner were working in his shed on project and not actually in the house and someone while he was in his shed or garage broke into the home .. would it not still be a Home Invasion?.. Of course it would.. as the resident/s were on the property. The opposite is true as well.. If the… Read more »
You spent an awful amount of time and text on this. After reading up on this subject, it appears you are correct that the legal difference between a home invasion and a burglary (breaking and entering) is whether an occupied residence is broken into. Occupied here means someone living there, not necessarily someone being present. Someone can be charged with home invasion of breaking into a home where the occupants are on vacation, for example. Your conclusions on the Texas case being discussed here, however, are wrong, because you failed to read up in the facts of this particular case.… Read more »
Harold,
You need to rethink the core purpose of the second amendment. Self defense is no where near why it was written in the bill of rights.
@pilot25 – beg to differ. Opposing color of authority does not make it any less self defense.
I have Texas Law Shield. Reasonably priced, and they are really there for you. I was going to be travelling to several states so I called and asked questions about current reciprocity. A lawyer from each state I listed called me personally. Hint – Don’t come from Texas and concealed (or open) carry in Minnesota!
Does anyone else get the impression that Harold was told what to do his entire life, and so now that he has an audience via Ammoland, he tends to impart that undertone back on his readers? I’m always left feeling as if he’s talking down to and projecting a sort of “listen to me” superiority, in most all the articles I’ve read anyway. One can seemingly always tell a Harold article after just a few sentences, or at most, a paragraph, from his authoritarian writing style. They always seem to be talking at us, instead of with us, so to… Read more »
Another lesson to be learned is in an open carry state why did nobody engage/stop/shoot the murderer? Were there “no firearms allowed” signs at Wall Mart? Was there really nobody else armed in time of need? In Texas? Really? There once was a shooter up in a tower at U.T. He shot MANY people, innocent people. There were LOTS of Texans shooting back at him, trying to put a stop to the murders and the Police were HAPPY for the help. They keep the guy pinned down until the cops could go up there and stop him. Back then it… Read more »
@DB – I believe percentage licensed to carry in TX is roughly the same as average across the country – including states like CA and NY where license is not available and all the constitutional carry states where many don’t bother getting license (for reciprocity). El Paso shooting happened in area with heavily hispanic demographic, including fair fraction being illegals and non-residents who cannot legally carry. Historically hispanics have been underreprestented amoung LTC holders. Putting all this together means there were few license holders. Add my observation that many LTC holders only carry sporadically if at all. So there were… Read more »
Yes Sir, disscression has always been the better part of valor. Fight the battles you can win. Facing an armored up villain with a rifle when all there is to argue back with is a hand gun is daunting to say the least. When it comes down to brass tacks humans, like any other animal, has two conflicting instincts Flight or fight. What makes humans different from most animals is the ability to control those instincts. Everybody gets afraid but past that there are only two kinds of people; trained or not trained. I was military trained and I was… Read more »
Speaking of insurance I have been seriously thinking about getting some. I get emails from the USCCA and it all sounds good but before I give anyone my money I’m curious how many of you have insurance and who you use and trust to protect you should you need it someday.
I have USCCA for years now. Go to the Military Arms Channel on YouTube and watch his recent video regarding the USCCA.
I joined USCCA, too, but mainly because I like their magazine columns and training videos. What they offer is not actually “insurance” in the legal sense, but a membership benefit that provides legal counsel.
Correct! It is not insurance and you do not get an actual insurance policy. It is an association membership benefit. That’s the legal way to get around insurance laws.
The benefit is much broader than just legal counsel. In fact, you can use your own lawyer if you want or select one of theirs. The main benefit is that it is a streamlined post-incident process that includes finding a lawyer, paying for it, paying for bail, and paying for any trial costs (if it actually goes to trial).
From my reading, CCW-safe looks like best choice. Anyone have experience or insight they’d care to share?
I am not a lawyer so take this with a small block of salt. Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground DO NOT CHANGE THE LAW ON JUSTIFICATION OF LETHAL FORCE. Each of these different laws change the presumption and requirements for what you must do if attacked. If you’re in a location LEGALLY SYG does not require that you flee before you can use force. Castle Doctrine basically allows defense of your dwelling as though it was a person. The Dallas police woman was not in her dwelling. Her lawyer should be ashamed if he thought Castle Doctrine applied. Unfortunately… Read more »
her lawyer was desparate and snatching at anything he could imagine. The timeines and her recent history, including being utterly distracted with a text exchange with another officer through the evening. and severallong shifts back to back had her in a mental state where she was dangerous. She should not even have been on duty that night, but was anyway. Her judgement was seriously impaired by her mental/emotioinal state that night. I firmly believe she was also blinded by her attitude about being a cop…. I”m in charge here, I’m right cuz I gots this tin star on my chest… Read more »
@Tionico – Spoke with several other current or former officers immediately following that shooting. Response was universal that because she had not yet changed out of her uniform – anything she said was a lawful order – and he should have complied. When asked how they expect someone interrupted doing something else is supposed to instantly recognize officer (and their authority) , process said order, and follow whatever collection of contradictory commands were yelled — response was also pretty consistent…. It’s not their problem. Follow orders or die – seems to be a real attitude among a large portion of… Read more »
You are showing a side of the story that Harold completely ignored. The side of the victim. Harold ask “What can Second Amendment supporters learn from this?” using the perpetrators view.
As a potential victim, we can learn a lot of things without blaming the victim. We can certainly learn that leaving your door open is not a good idea, because a nut job police officer will have no physical barrier preventing her from entering.
If he hadn’t policed his brass, not that I read that in the linked story, he’d have been charged with two counts of littering, instead of just one, leaving a corpse in the yard. It wasn’t that he didn’t report the shooting, nor calling his attorney first, that got him in trouble, it was dispatching a criminal that was fleeing, a crime that most police that kill fleeing suspects get away with. If we prosecute him, we need to prosecute all the officers that do the same thing. However, the police get away with it under the guise of stopping… Read more »
@Heed, Who knows what is in the mind of an intruding felon? One saw his face, so the intruder has to kill the homeowner. Or maybe the intruder was there for the sport of killing people (e.g. the BTK [Bind, Torture, and then Kill] Killer, who used to surveil and bring a torture kill kit.)
Maybe he is not fleeing, but rather maneuvering. Or going to get help.
Thank God and the Texas legislature that we have the Presumption of Right Action.
@Wild Bill The case @Heed the Call-up is talking about did not involve an intruder.
It must certainly suck to get charged with murder for shooting at a fleeing burglar who was no lethal threat. Thats self defense 101!
Some states do have fleeing felon statutes, but they apply to people that pose an imminent danger to the community if they get away. Burglars usually do not fall under this category.
Just because some police officers get away with murder, doesn’t justify the rest of this country to get away with it too. Unless, you just want everyone to become judge, jury and executioner and get rid of the legal system.
@CF – I read post above as suggesting that we should prosecute LEO for criminal behavior. Maybe just projecting, as that is my position.
Believe in the rule-of-law and support LEO – insist that they behave appropriate and follow the laws. There is no other way to uphold moral authority required for effective law enforcement. Other option is to rule by the gun – which won’t work.
Hey, Harold Hutchison, the NRA just terminated all remaining NRA Carry Guard policies: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/nra-carry-guard-terminates-remaining-policies. Will you now stop promoting it?
Two critical lessons from those two incidents were left out of this article:
1. When you make up a story about how you shot someone, make up a story that is believable. Just because you have a badge doesn’t always make the conflicts in your story believable (unless you are a deputy in South Carolina in which case neither your story nor the facts matter at all).
2. Don’t shoot fleeing subjects in the back.
Mossad Ayub did a column about how they turn faster than you can stop shooting, so that a facing shot can go in the back.
Correct! The OODA loop reaction time is responsible for that. It takes a while (as low as 0.25 seconds and as high as 1 second) for your brain to process what happened and to make the decision to react.
That, however, is not what happened here based on the homeowners own account. The homeowner said that he fired into the dark and did not know if he hit the fleeing burglar. The burglar would have gotten at most 5 yards away in 1 second. (The Tueller drill assumes 7 yards in 1.5 seconds.)
Does anyone find it a little frightening that a person so lacking in awareness that they don’t know whether they are home or not,.. is allowed to carry a gun and a badge ?
Does anyone find it a little frightening that a person posting on Ammoland.com does not understand the Constitution and wants a 5 foot 3 inch, 130-pound woman, be disarmed because she lacked situational awareness? I am not defending her actions, but your conclusions are all wrong.
She IS now disarmed – permanently – as a violent felon.
From the information available, I agree with the jury that her crime was murder, but I’d come a lot closer to believing that it was deliberate premeditated murder rather than any sort of confusion or lack of situational awareness.
AT BEST, if we believe her story and disregard all the other evidence, this was a person who should never have been given a badge and a gun due to her reckless and irresponsible attitude that laws and procedures don’t apply to her.
Yes, she is now disarmed, as a convicted violent felon serving a sentence. She was entering the wrong apartment and unlawfully shot the person living there. Having a badge is really irrelevant to these facts. Having a service weapon over a personally owned weapon is really irrelevant to these facts. I guess you belong to those people that would like to take people’s guns away, like @Considerthis. Please point me to the phrase in the Constitution that permits that! Yes, I would like to see more qualified and more trained people serving in law enforcement, but then, these incidents often… Read more »
Charlie, I don’t belong to anyone ( except my wife of 49 years ) I made no statement that anyone should be disarmed. I asked a question. I asked how people felt about an incident. Read it again. I guess you belong to those people that would like to take people’s free speech away.. Please point me to the phrase in the Constitution that permits that ! Sounds like you jumped to a conclusion and then went from there to make false accusations. Are you a Law Enforcement Officer ? “These incidents often occur,..” I did not know this. I… Read more »
You asked about whether a person should have not been “allowed” to carry a gun. That IS a statement to disarm someone!
You can talk all the nonsense you want. Free speech does not mean you won’t get any reply to that nonsense.
@ConsiderThis – Seems you had comprehension issues with @CFs post. Try using this glossary: “Things like this” = police shooting someone they should not have. “Qualified immunity” = unless court has ruled that a specific behaviour is unlawful, police are immune from prosecution for their behaviour. Police know that in general they cannot be prosecuted for their behaviour, no matter how egregious. Given their legal protections, they assume authority to act however they want. That is a recipe for poor behaviour, leading to an attidue problem among LEO. What makes you ask @CF whether “often lose track of where you… Read more »
I DO want a person of any height, weight, gender, to be disarmed if they are SO unaware of where they are and what is going on about them that they shoot and kill an innocent man sitting in his own livingroom. Particularly a man who had a HUGE BRIGHT RED doormat carpet right in front of his door. She was in a mental/emotional state in which she SHOULD have disarmed herself. and her failure to do so renders her unfit to exercixe her right to arms. If one cannot be FULLY responsible for their decision to carry arms, and… Read more »
It is certainly interesting how many people here want to disarm other people based on their own feelings about the person being disarmed.
@T – I could possible agree with “she should have disarmed herself.” However she was just getting off a work shift – where should she have put the pistol before heading home? How often do you see people calling work and saying “I’m a bit too wound up – can I take the day off?” Perhaps as a society, we need to recognize that tired police are as dangerous as tired truck drivers – and set similar nationwide limits on their work hours and conditions?
Thank you, Tionico for answering the question that I posted. My question was intended to get a feel for the opinions of people that post here.about the incident. It seems most all responses posted concentrated on personal attacks on me for posing the question, except yours. Years ago , I went to my first gun rights rally in the auditorium of a local college. The speakers were politicians running for local,state and federal offices and the keynote speaker was Charleton Heston. Being in such a massive crowd of like minded people gave me a feeling like I had never experienced… Read more »
After Charleton Heston was named NRA President, he jetted back to LA and appeared on a radio talk show, during which he repeatedly stated that it was inappropriate for civilians to own AK47 type rifles. We are tired of being betrayed by the very people that we supported! We are tired of people saying “I support the Second Amendment, but …”. We are tired of people suggesting that someone should not be allowed to carry a firearm. As I said, it is certainly interesting how many people here want to disarm other people based on their own feelings about the… Read more »
What conclusions ? I asked a question !
So dit I!
Instead of asking whether a person should have not been “allowed” to carry a gun, how about asking the right questions? By the way, who is “allowing” her to carry a gun?
Charlie, You say I do not understand the Constitution. I’m not sure how or why you jumped to that conclusion. I don’t believe that you understood my one line question. If you can not understand this question , should you really be passing judgement about other people not understanding the Constitution ? Read it again, no where in the question do I advocate disarming anyone. You say my ” conclusions are all wrong”. I came to no conclusions. I asked a question. I didn’t even indicate that “I” found it a little frightening. I simply asked if anyone found it… Read more »
“Does anyone find it a little frightening that a person so lacking in awareness that they don’t know whether they are home or not,.. is allowed to carry a gun and a badge ?”
Who should not be “allowing” her to carry a gun?
@Considerthis It’s pretty clear what Charlie Foxtrot is trying to get you to think about. If we are talking about the constitution and the idea of “Carrying a Gun”, who is it that we give authority to in deciding who qualifies and who does not? When you have freedom, sometimes the price is that bad people will sometimes do bad things and all we can do is hold them accountable after the fact. Do you want to have someone in government deciding who is fit to carry a gun, what their mental state should be, or when such action is… Read more »
Exactly! Thanks!
@CGGator Foxtrot
NP, thought you made it pretty obvious.
Gotta love when the diaper wetters come out just to push that down vote. 😀 I can still hear their bottom lip quivering as they shed “Tears of rage” that I am still here commenting. lol Just proves my point everytime they do it.
Love how they don’t have the balls to comment, but made sure I knew the other day I wasn’t someone they were afraid of. Oh well, enough laughing for now. 🙂