71 Year Old Woman Posts sign Threat.

C

cloud8a

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The elderly woman here, with the help of her son, posts a sign saying if you break into her house your head will be blown off.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Break-In-Your-Head-Will-Be-Blown-Off-120245924.html

Questions.

What would be the problem with posting strong warning signs around property?

What kind of danger can be considered with CERTAIN elderly folks ready to battle perceived bad guys?

How much law do you want to protect you from bad guys weighed against how much freedom you want to protect yourself from bad guys? I guess this is security vs. freedom and or the consequences of that security and or freedom.

If there are so many different types of people with different types of beliefs, cultures, ages, living locations, and intelligence levels, how is it possible to ever know where to draw the lines in regards to gun and self defense laws?
 
How much law do you want to protect you from bad guys weighed against how much freedom you want to protect yourself from bad guys? I guess this is security vs. freedom and or the consequences of that security and or freedom
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First, the law isn't under any legal obligation to protect an individual.

Second, as far as posting a sign stating that "your head would be blown off" I'm not sure how I feel about it. Clearly she has the right to post that sign. However, if she did shoot someone in a home invasion, that sign might be seen as a sort of vigilantism. Not something that I'd want in an otherwise clean SD shooting.
 
In this context I think its great for her being 71 yrs old...More than enough warning to a person who clearly intends to break the law in the first place..the naysayers should be more concerned about dealing with people doing the B&E's in the first place than an old lady posting a sign on her own damn house..

If it were my house, I'd be a tad more discreet about it & put up one of those signs saying something like... "I dont dail 911"
 
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While I can't say how the legal system would percieve such a graphic notice if something were to ever actually occur, it is most definitively "Fair Warning".
 
What would be the problem with posting strong warning signs around property?
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The problem is that under Texas law, you are only allowed to use lethal force in defense of property in certain circumstances. You are only allowed to use lethal force in defense of yourself or others to prevent an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury (or the imminent commission of several serious crimes listed under Section 9 of the Penal Code).

Posting a sign with the wording she chose is going to raise the question of whether any shooting was done to protect property or life (legal) or done to punish the intruder (illegal).

Offsetting that is the fact the she is a 71yr old lady living in Lufkin, TX. She is going to get a lot of leeway when it comes to considering whether something represents a threat of death or serious injury. Leeway that a healthy adult male probably wouldn't get.

If there are so many different types of people with different types of beliefs, cultures, ages, living locations, and intelligence levels, how is it possible to ever know where to draw the lines in regards to gun and self defense laws?
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It looks to me like the current Texas laws work very well in that regard. Where are you seeing a problem?
 
Some of us are old enough to remember the various metal signs like "Protected by S&W" (with a big revolver pointing at you), or "Trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again", or "Anyone found here in the middle of the night will be found here in the morning", and on and on. I used to see them and others on folks' fences, property lines, etc. - it was no big deal then - maybe 15-20 years ago. Now it seems it is even less politically correct, and the press will make you into some sort of wannabe killer...........:barf:

What a shame she gets slammed for wanting to put a little intimidation into the mind of a possible ne'er-do-well
 
I say good for her. It seems more and more in these times, other people want what you have and want it now. Not the good old fashioned way you and I know and that is to work hard for what you want so you can buy it.

I also think political correctness goes way overboard in the wrong direction.

Way back many, many moons ago, I took a gun course that involved much more than learning how to properly handle a gun. One section of the course was law taught by a sitting judge that was very pro gun. He offered not only what the law said, but also how juries tend to view defendants that have various gun related offenses. Another part of the course was taught by the local sheriff which was how to keep your home, care, and possessions safe and protected from thieves. As mentioned by a previous post, all those signs such as "protected by Smith & Wesson" ad infinitum only send a clear message to thieves that there is probably a gun (or guns) in the house which makes your house or car a target for the wrong element.

With regard to this 71 year old lady, I do believe that given the opportunity to blow the head off of an intruder, she will most likely do it. Given her age, and the fact that her door was previously kicked-in, I believe that a prudent jury would find that she feared for her life and has indeed given ample warning to any would-be intruder.
 
In many states, I would imagine that shooting an intruder would usually go down as legit self defense, no matter what sign was posted. Especially given her own situation; an uninvited person (likely with a criminal past) laying dead in the home of an elderly woman isn't generally able to be interpreted more than one way. The only problem would be if the facts of the shooting indicated she was shooting after the threat had ended (shot the guy in the back, a clear execution style shooting, or some other extenuating circumstance). Even then, given her age, you'd probably have a hard time getting a conviction barring some very heinous and clearly criminal behavior on her part.
 
Attach a form to the sign that house breakers have to fill in before they break into her house. Critical information like next of kin to be notified and what mortuary to send the remains to.
 
Texas is one thing, I think you’re fine. But I would be worried a sign like that could be used against you in an "anti gun" state like MA, NY or IL if you defended your home but circumstances did not cover all of the legal loop-holes and legalese induced ambiguities of the law.

If only the laws were simpler, IMO if you break into someone’s property you forfeit your life end of story.
 
I liked that the NBC Dallas-Fort Worth story was illustrated with a big picture of a black, scary handgun, instead of the picture of the actual sign used in the more detailed story they linked to... :rolleyes:

And it's worth noting that neither story suggested that local law enforcement had any problems with the sign.

The more detailed story, from the Lufkin Daily News, also notes that the woman said she thought the original burglars were driven off by her three barking dogs. She credits them with saving her life -- but she also barked at the burglars some herself. :D
 
Posting a sign with the wording she chose is going to raise the question of whether any shooting was done to protect property or life (legal) or done to punish the intruder (illegal).
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If she claims she is going to blow someone's head off if they try to break in again, that would mean someone would have to be breaking into her home while she is there to blow the intruder's head off...in which case the intrusion would actually be a home invasion.

...just sayin'.

Here is the sign in question from UPI.com:
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...01cc4c002e0-revisions/4dac98583744d.image.jpg
 
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What would be the problem with posting strong warning signs around property?
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Shows intent, like a dangerous dog sign.

Most folks put up them little security flags and signs like protected by ADT etc.
 
If she claims she is going to blow someone's head off if they try to break in again, that would mean someone would have to be breaking into her home while she is there to blow the intruder's head off...in which case the intrusion would actually be a home invasion.
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Which under Texas law means that her belief that deadly force was immediately necessary would be presumed to be legal (assuming she knew or had reason to believe that the intruder had unlawfully entered with force).

A presumption is rebuttable if there is evidence to the contrary. Let me give an example that has gotten both police and citizens in trouble before:

Intruder unlawfully enters the house with force and she knows it. She shoots intruder. First shot is a good shot, no legal problems. Intruder changes his mind and begins to flee. She shoots him again. Is that second shot because she still has a reasonable fear for her life or because she wants to punish the intruder? If it is the first, then it is still a good shoot. If it is the second, she has done something illegal. And since there aren't many witnesses and the forensic evidence is going to show he was shot in the back, there may be some doubts about that - especially given the sign in the yard.

Since this is Texas and she has committed homicide, the case is going to go before a grand jury and they decide whether it goes to trial. Now, in my opinion, chances are still pretty good she gets no-billed; but the sign doesn't help her.

Not to mention that unless you plan on being in that home 24/7, that sign pretty much informs every thief in the area that there are guns in the house.
 
We have signs all around our house announcing that it is wired wired wired. But we live in California, where signs such as she posted would get us arrested the first time they were seen by the constabulary.

But I'm a Texan, and I remember Lufkin. Haven't been there in sixty years, but I doubt if it has changed that much. So I will state this with bluebonnets-full-of-rattlesnakes pride: if that lady actually shot someone inside her home, the county prosecutor would find more important things to do than waste time on a case against her.

Cordially, Jack
 
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She needs to post it in two or three different languages and with some simplistic pictures that the bad guys illiterate in those languages will clearly understand. Otherwise they will not have a fair chance! :D
 
Quote:
If there are so many different types of people with different types of beliefs, cultures, ages, living locations, and intelligence levels, how is it possible to ever know where to draw the lines in regards to gun and self defense laws?

"It looks to me like the current Texas laws work very well in that regard. Where are you seeing a problem?"

Barth Roberts

The problem being the constant state of controversy we are in in this country regarding everything to do with the gun. The lines are always being drawn, redrawn taken away or added based on our ever changing culture. It always seems to me that throughout the proccess of changing lines, the way life really is, and reality, is more often than not ignored for sake of utopian philosophies.
 
First thing you have to realize this is an older woman, probably living alone. She is vulnerable, and those that would take care advantage know that. Second, she says "again", so she has been robbed before.

Personally, I don't care what Texas law is, no jury, not even in NYC, would convict her if she said she was afraid and protecting herself.
 
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