http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family.
George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.
“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.
Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.
“He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said.
Grier was later arrested.
Police determined Grier had the gun legally. He has no criminal record. And so he was not charged for the weapon.
Problem with these types of stories is that you are assuming that the writer of the story has an IQ above 30. My local news has had several stories of this type and each time I knew the facts of the story, I found they were completely misrepresented in the media. One such story was “Mean man shoots neighbor for no reason” type story. The actual story was more like, “Two idiots have running gun battle on lawn, one ends up dead.” I have no faith that this story was correctly reported.
It is however likely that it is unlawful to shoot a weapon in the city limits. Seeing as he didn’t actually shoot anyone, it could be argued that he shot his weapon as a warning shot, which would be illegal in most cities. Doing so will most certainty get one arrested.
Marvin,
Exactly my point. It is illegal to defend your family there.
He would probably have been ok legally if they charged the house, or even threw something at the house. But firing a warning shot when you are not in reasonable fear of serious bodily harm is probably going to get you arrested.
As reported – it was verbal and not physical.
It was smart not to actually shoot someone under these circumstances (if accurately reported).
‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’
Any sane individual would have done the same as he did.
The sane ones would move to state with self protection laws that do not arrest the victims.