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  • FutureLEO04

    CHL question....

    I live in texas...I know the laws may be different in other states... ALL answers are greatly appreciated....please give me your opinion as an LEO...and also someone who wants to protect themselves/family/etc...

    Brandishing a firearm anyone? If I honestly feel threatened...even if I just tell someone I'm armed...can't they call the police and say I flashed a gun? If so...am I in trouble for that? would that chance if I actually displayed it?
    I realize you should never draw unless you intend to fire...but if I can keep my wallet...or from getting a black eye...or from giving someone a black eye as well...by using the gun as a deterent... what happens legally?

    sorry if this is long...I'm just honestly curious. We all hope we never have to use a concealed weapon...but if I do, I'd like to know
  • SgtCHP
    Retired Sergeant - CHP
    • Nov 2006
    • 6026

    #2
    Originally posted by FutureLEO04
    I live in texas...I know the laws may be different in other states... ALL answers are greatly appreciated....please give me your opinion as an LEO...and also someone who wants to protect themselves/family/etc...

    Brandishing a firearm anyone? If I honestly feel threatened...even if I just tell someone I'm armed...can't they call the police and say I flashed a gun? If so...am I in trouble for that? would that chance if I actually displayed it?
    I realize you should never draw unless you intend to fire...but if I can keep my wallet...or from getting a black eye...or from giving someone a black eye as well...by using the gun as a deterent... what happens legally?

    sorry if this is long...I'm just honestly curious. We all hope we never have to use a concealed weapon...but if I do, I'd like to know

    Obiously, you should not carry a concealed weapon. You cannot threaten verballly or implied that you are CCW just because someone is a threat. The threat must be for some type of violance that has a liklihood of death. Just because someone is going to commit a battery on you - give you a black eye and a good old fashion whipping - does not mean you can threaten them with a firearm.

    Here is the Texas law for CCW:



    Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence!

    [George Washington (1732 - 1799)]

    Comment

    • irishdep
      FIR NA DLI "MEN OF LAW"
      • Feb 2007
      • 1323

      #3
      DITTO. If your life or someone else's life isn't at risk of death or SERIOUS bodily injury don't flash it, touch it or mention it. A lot of things could go wrong brandishing a firearm. Someone running their cakehole doesn't justify the use or threat of deadly force. A black eye sucks but so do decades in prison.
      "Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything!"-Wyatt Earp

      "You never know when crazy will show up!"-Irishdep

      Comment

      • Tim Dees
        Forum Member
        • Aug 2005
        • 1733

        #4
        You'll get different advice here, but here's mine: don't display it. Don't tell someone you have a gun. If you are involved in a confrontational situation, think, "How would I handle this if I didn't have a gun?" rather than "How can I use my gun to get out of this?" The options that fall under the first question are generally going to be better choices than the options under the second.

        A police officer who draws his gun generally benefits from the presumption that he had a good reason to do so. This doesn't mean that cops have a green light to drawn down on anyone, anytime, but the decision to introduce the gun into the situation will be evaluated in a light somewhat more favorable than is the case when a private citizen does the same thing. Further, if a private citizen introduces a firearm into a situation, there are almost always going to be legal consequences for the guy with the gun. You may eventually beat the criminal rap (if there is one, and chances are there will be), but you will have to bear the costs of defending yourself. Then you have to contend with the civil consequences, which can be even worse. A cop who gets sued will generally be indemnified and defended by his employer. You're going to be on your own.

        If you, God forbid, find yourself in a Columbine or Virginia Tech scenario, then the rules will be very different. But if we're talking about the guy that calls you out in the parking lot of the honky tonk because he didn't like the way you looked at his girlfriend, introducing a gun into that situation is just not going to end well.

        WAR STORY ALERT

        In college, I had a job cashiering and making sandwiches in a small grocery store in the "student ghetto." There were usually two of us working at any given time, and I was usually in the back at the meat/sandwich counter. One of the people I worked with was a CJ major who had one of the worst cases of cop wannabee that I have ever seen, up to that point or since. Let's call him "Bob." This was in California, and CCW permits were nearly impossible to get. One night, he took me aside and pulled out his two-inch .38 Special, which he kept in the back of his pants. He made some speech about not wanting to ever have to use the gun, when it was pretty clear to me that he was living for the day that he would get to use the gun. Whether or not he was carrying it lawfully is a matter of debate, as we were on private property, but that doesn't really matter in this story, anyway.

        One night a man came in and ordered half a dozen sandwiches that he planned to take with him and his family when they went to the drive-in movie. We chatted while I made the sandwiches, and he was pleasant and polite. I bagged the sandwiches, wrote the price on the bag, and he went up front to pay for them. A few moments later, I heard shouting up front, as there had apparently been a dispute between the customer and my colleague over the precise amount of money that was due. As I walked up, I heard the wannabee/cashier say, "I'm throwing you out of the store!" as he climbed over the counter and tried to do that (literally). Demonstrating good judgment that I still wonder at today, I declined to get involved with this and went back to call the cops. By the time I came back to the front of the store, the customers' wallet, comb and sunglasses were on the floor, and Bob was holding the gun on him. The cops walked in a moment later, and now there were LOTS of guns pointed at people.

        Bob got charged with brandishing a firearm, and he demanded a jury trial. I had to testify. I only saw a small portion of the trial, but Bob's body language and demeanor cut his own throat with the jury, as he came across as the most cocksure, arrogant person imaginable. He was convicted. Years later, out of curiosity, and quite illegally, I ran Bob's criminal history to see what else he had been up to. His was the only criminal history I ever saw with a big "USE EXTREME CAUTION. MAY BE ARMED AND DANGEROUS" notation at the top. He wasn't then wanted for anything, but someone apparently thought him enough of a loose cannon to include that tidbit of information.
        Tim Dees, now writing as a plain old forum member, his superpowers lost to an encounter with gold kryptonite.

        Comment

        • FutureLEO04

          #5
          ok...let me give more details....

          I'm at a gas station late at night....it's well lit...and there are cameras...but criminals aren't the sharpest tools in the shed...

          I'm approched while pumping gas by a 6ft4 220lb male holding a small folding pocket-knife... he demands my wallet.. my car door is between myself and the attacker.... now if I was by myself, I'd use the car door between us to run...go inside...call the police. But...my girlfriend is seated in the car...and it's a convertible... There is now a serious threat...or, at least I percieve it to be a serious threat that could result in injury or death. Ok to display? or should I honestly try to wrestle a knife away from him without being trained? Or just give him my wallet and let the police and cameras track him down?


          I WOULD NEVER DRAW....FLASH....OR THREATEN someone over a comment about his girlfriend. I'd probably take the hit if I was staring at her... That would be just dumb to instigate a gun fight over something that stupid. I like to think I have a lot more common sense then that. Besides...here in texas if I'm at a "honky-tonk" that's a bar...I'm not allowed to carry anyway :-)

          I'm wanting to know the legal consequences of displaying or telling someone I'm armed if a threat is present that will likely cause bodily injury....or death.

          I hope I didn't come off as a trigger happy kid in my orignal post....that was not my intention... and yes, to the poster...I always try to look at the situation as if I wasn't armed.... good people skills/communication has stopped many fights....over stupid reasons. Thanks all...

          Comment

          • TX Heat
            Forum Member
            • Oct 2005
            • 395

            #6
            At that point you could have shot him. So drawing down on him would not have likely been an over reaction would it?
            But it boils down to what he may allege in the future and what the investigation will show.
            CCP, you'd better be darned ready to use it if you draw it. Mr. Dees gave very sound advice.

            Comment

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