Texas to Expand Gun-Rights/Self-Defense

Washington, DC (TLS). Texas is set to expand the gun rights and self-defense rights of its citizens. With at least 100 out of 150 state house legislators and 21 out of 27 state senators backing the legislation, known as the 'stand your ground' bill, this new law is expected to gain easy passage.

Under the provisions of the 'stand your ground' bill, the law would expand the concept known as 'the Castle Doctrine'--an ancient concept of English Common Law that maintains a person has the right to use force, including deadly force, in the defense of one's home, without any risk of criminal or civil liability. The Texas bill would expand the Castle doctrine to include one's automobile and place of business.

Thus, if citizens feel that their lives are endangered while at the work place or behind the wheel, they can feel free to use deadly force with the backing of the law. And, in those cases where citizens use a firearm to defend themselves against harm, whether at home, work, or in an automobile, they are granted the protection of the law from criminal or civil litigation.

Detractors claim that Texas does not need such a law since, according to some critics, 'citizens are normally not prosecuted in Texas for matters related to self-defense anyway.'

This may be true, but the concept of an individual citizen's right to self-defense with a firearm or any other weapon must be codified into a legally binding provision that would shield citizens from any possible prosecution. The bill's critics are relying solely upon Texas culture to protect citizens in the event they use deadly force in self-defense. However, should that culture change, there are all too-many lawyers and District Attorneys who would not hesitate to make citizens liable for actions taken in self-defense. It has already happened in other states. In fact, in some states the Castle Doctrine has come near to going the way of the dinosaur, even in the protection of one's home. All too often across the United States, prosecuting attorneys have aggressively brought charges against citizens who defend themselves and their homes against criminal intrusion. Many of these citizens have also found themselves the needless victims of lawsuits brought by CRIMINALS who are injured while breaking and entering. The expansion of the Castle Doctrine in Texas is an important step in insuring that citizens feel free to protect themselves, including the use of firearms under the provisions of the Second Amendment.

As expected, the Texas 'stand your ground' legislation has critics across the nation. Never wavering from their incessant assault on the rights of individual citizens, particularly with regard to firearms, the Left Wing in this country views the proposed Texas law as the 'shoot thy neighbor' bill. The Boston Globe referred to the bill as a 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach to personal safety. Yet similar legislation across the country has gained broad support among the citizens and their legislators. 15 states have already passed similar self-defense laws since 2005, and another 6 states are considering such legislation this year.

One of the fiercest opponents to expanding self-defense laws is the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. It should be noted that the Brady Campaign has pushed Congress to pass some of the most oppressive restrictions on the rights of individuals in the history of the Republic. In the name of protecting citizens from gun violence, the Brady Campaign would prevent law-abiding citizens from using one of the most effective tools for stopping criminals--the exercise of their Second Amendment rights. In fact, the Brady bunch is on record supporting an outright ban of handguns, the preferred weapon of choice for most citizens when it comes to self-protection.

Zach Ragbourn, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, stated, 'Changing the law opens the door to indiscriminate killing by people who later claim they feared for their lives. You won't be thrown into jail for legitimate self-defense. Monkeying with the law can only help people who would have otherwise been punished.'

The Liberty Sphere would like to know where Mr.Ragbourn has been all of these years as government officials have aggressively prosecuted citizens who exercised self-defense. The cases are too numerous to mention. And this does not even begin to address the countless litigation brought against citizens by the perpetrators of crime. Naturally Mr. Ragbourn and the Brady bunch would like for citizens to forget this assault on their rights by rabid gun-grabbers such as those involved in the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Apparently, the citizens and legislators in Texas and twenty other states have not forgotten. This is precisely why legislation such as the 'stand your ground' bill is gaining such widespread support. Ragbourn's contention that such legislation is not needed is ample reason to pass it. Perhaps Texans wish to nip in the bud the beast of the gun-grabbing rights-robbers before it reaches the point that citizens are placed in the precarious position of criminal and civil liability for merely using their firearms to protect their lives. In far too many states in the nation, self-defense as encapsulated in the Castle Doctrine has fallen on hard times. The Texas bill ensures this will not happen in Texas.

The Liberty Sphere believes that this bill needs to be considered by all of the states. And, if we ever oust the present Congress that is ruled by the purveyors of anti-freedom, this type of legislation should be considered as the official law of the land throughout America. This would stop once and for all the senseless, tyrannical assault on the rights of citizens, not only to keep and bear firearms, but to simple self-defense, not only at home, but in the workplace and in our autos.

As long as Democrats run Congress, such legislation, of course, will never be considered. But...we can bide our time. 2008 is on the way.