Austin is a relatively safe city in Texas. But it’s always a good idea to learn how to protect yourself. There are tons of self-defense classes available for people to learn how to defend themselves. There are laws regarding using self-defense and what constitutes self-defense in Texas.
Texas has several statutes that relate to self-defense. In some states there is a “duty to retreat” or rather the attacked person must leave the location of initial force. Texas does not inforce this as long as the person was not provoking or is the person using force engaged in a criminal activity.
According to Texas Penal Code § 9.31 “a person is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect the actor against the other’s use or attempted use of unlawful force.”
The use of force in self-defense is justified if the person who used force knew or had reason to believe that it was being used against someone who was entering or attempting to enter their home, business or vehicle or if they were attempting to commit a crime like assault, sexual assault, robbery or murder.
Self-defense is not justified in the use against verbal provocation or if the person using initial force communicates their intent to leave and the other continues to use force.
Thank you for visiting the Law Office of Gabriella Young’s blog, an Austin criminal defense lawyer. We write to inform locals about law changes, news and events.