Gun Toting Neighbor Vindicated
Like a good neighbor, Joe Horn is there!
Great news out of Texas. A Grand Jury failed to indict Joe Horn, the friendly gun-toting neighbor who spied some burglars coming out of his neighbor’s home with their criminal booty & ill gotten gains. He called the police, who were slow to get to the scene, and when he thought the crooks were making their escape and potentially crossing over into his property, he grabbed his shotgun and delivered some Texas-style justice to those criminals!
ABC News reports…
Man Cleared for Killing Neighbor’s Burglars
‘Castle Doctrine’ Gives Texans Unprecedented Authority to Take Action Against Intruders
By CHRIS BURY and HOWARD L. ROSENBERG
June 30, 2008—
A Texas man who shot and killed two men he believed to be burglarizing his neighbor’s home won’t be going to trial. A grand jury today failed to indict Joe Horn, a 61-year-old computer technician who lives in an affluent subdivision in Pasadena, Texas.
In the Lone Star state, where the six-gun tamed the frontier, shooting bad guys is a time-honored tradition, and Horn’s case centered on a Texas state law based on the old idea that “a man’s home is his castle.” The “castle law” gives Texans unprecedented legal authority to use deadly force in their homes, vehicles and workplaces. And no longer do they have an obligation to retreat, if possible, before they shoot.
“I understand the concerns of some in the community regarding Mr. Horn’s conduct,” Harris County District Attorney Kenneth Magidson told reporters at the courthouse. “The use of deadly force is carefully limited in Texas law to certain circumstances. … In this case, however, the grand jury concluded that Mr. Horn use of deadly force did not rise to a criminal offense.”
‘I’m Gonna Shoot!’ Horn called 911 in November to report a burglary in broad daylight at the house next door.
“I’ve got a shotgun; you want me to stop him?” Horn asked the dispatcher.
“Nope. Don’t do that,” the dispatcher replied. “Ain’t no property worth shooting somebody over, OK?”
Horn was clearly upset by the dispatcher’s response.
“I’m not gonna let them get away with it,” he said. “I can’t take a chance getting killed over this, OK.”
Despite the dispatcher’s protects, Horn said, “I’m gonna shoot! I’m gonna shoot!”
