TexasCHLforum.com

I am very concerned about how this case plays out. It can play out poorly for CHLs and also poorly for the police.

I read about it in the paper this morning and saw no evidence that the man was a CHL. It read to me like the officer met the man on his own property and saw that he had a firearm. The police officer asked to disarm the man, but he had no legal authority to do so. The law allows police to disarm license holders, not everyone. It also allows police to seize evidence of crimes, but carrying a weapon on his own property is not a crime. And if the officer reached for the gun when the man refused to surrender it, then this would legally be an assault or attempted assault. That would justify some use of force by the man to defend himself. This makes it a case of manslaughter for the officer.

But it also can play out poorly for citizens. Think how this can make armed citizens look to police. An officer asked the man for his pistol, and the man refused and then pulled the gun and threatened the officer with it.

This case is a tragedy in more ways than I can think of. One of the few times I agree with Chief Acevedo was when he said there are never any winners in cases like this.