DALLAS (Reuters) - Criminals in Texas beware: if you threaten someone in their car or office, the citizens of this state where guns are ubiquitous have the right to shoot you dead.

Governor Rick Perry's office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans' existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves "without retreat" in their homes, cars and workplaces.

"The right to defend oneself from an imminent act of harm should not only be clearly defined in Texas law, but is intuitive to human nature," Perry said on his Web site.

The new law, which takes affect on September 1, extends an exception to a statute that required a person to retreat in the face of a criminal attack. The exception was in the case of an intruder unlawfully entering a person's home.

The law extends a person's right to stand their ground beyond the home to vehicles and workplaces, allowing the reasonable use of deadly force, the governor's office said.

The reasonable use of lethal force will be allowed if an intruder is:

- Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes

- Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place

- Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.

The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker in such situations.

Texas joins several other states including Florida that have or are considering similar laws.

Sympathy for violent offenders and criminals in general runs low in Texas, underscored by its busy death row. The state leads the United States in executions with 388 since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A conservative political outlook and widespread fondness for hunting also means Texans are a well-armed people capable of defending themselves with deadly force.

It is easy to acquire guns over the counter in Texas and lawful to carry a concealed handgun with a permit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070327/...deadlyforce_dc

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People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp92vkXcC0w

Well, I guess the Texas is wanting citizens to protect themselves and let thte police to finish the paperwork. This sounds like a good law to allow citizens to defend and protetct their families.

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An informed voter scares the Goverment lackeys.

An American first and always a Conservative.

You know what they say dont mess with TEXAS... Anyway good for them.... Knowing somone could very easily be carying a gun should keep those libbs and there condesending sarcastic comments to themselves

Good for Texas. I am pro-gun.

BUT, to constantly talk of guns, physical violence, and use profanity/swearing/cussing, displays that people are insecure. It doesn't paint a pretty picture.

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Ephesians 5:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyR41JbpL_g

Lady, it is a violent world we live in and it never hurts to be prepared.

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An informed voter scares the Goverment lackeys.

An American first and always a Conservative.

I don't know, get into an arguement with your brother-in-law and shoot him and claim he was an intruder.

do they do that in Cali?

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An informed voter scares the Goverment lackeys.

An American first and always a Conservative.

A Judge in San Franciso stated that a burglar shooting an armed homeowner could claim self-defense. Do they bring up stupid in Cali or what?

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Liberal-a person who has his cake, eats his cake, and complains that other people don't have cake, and believes that you should donate your cake to them

When I can't protect my property it is time to move.

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An informed voter scares the Goverment lackeys.

An American first and always a Conservative.

If the President is any indication of how violent Texans are, then texans probably need guns and laws that allow them to shoot each other. Let's face it, a dead Texan is a good texan! By the way, where does Texas rank in terms of violent crimes? Real statistics, not texan doctored stats. Does all this killing stop violent crime? As long as they stay in texan and kill each other, I could care less. The problem is when they get in the Whitehouse and start killing everyone else.