What goes up must come down. Do not fire any weapon into the air. Ever.
Discharging a weapon into the ground can also land you in trouble. Of course having a weapon off your property without a carry permit can land you in trouble.
But how about criminals? No rules no worries.
Feel safe now? Our criminal justice system has found the only way to make citizens completely dependent on police services that cannot arrive in time.
A warning shot into the ground, NOT accompanied by “stop or I’ll shoot”, can ALWAYS be passed off as an accidental discharge. Most juries will forgive the shooter in that circumstance.
A warning shot fired into the air, especially if joined with a verbal warning, will NEVER be considered anything but a warning shot.
If you kill the goblin, the major information for a grand jury/jury will come from YOU, and if there are not other witnesses, it will ALL come from you. It is important that those juries, and the police before you get to juries, ALWAYS hear that you were in fear of your life and/or in fear of your family’s lives.
In Oregon, where I live and did 25 years of police work, I NEVER heard of even one case where anyone was convicted after properly testifying that he/she was in fear of his/her life.
I know the rule, so I wouldn’t do it. Of course, the type of person who would fire a warning shot could just tell them afterwards, “he spun my direction in a threatening manner, I fired and missed.”
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
What goes up must come down. Do not fire any weapon into the air. Ever.
Discharging a weapon into the ground can also land you in trouble. Of course having a weapon off your property without a carry permit can land you in trouble.
But how about criminals? No rules no worries.
Feel safe now? Our criminal justice system has found the only way to make citizens completely dependent on police services that cannot arrive in time.
Rube Goldberg would be proud.
June 23rd, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Not to sound calise,but why waste your ammo on a warning shot, just shot the sob who’s breaking into your place.
June 24th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
A warning shot into the ground, NOT accompanied by “stop or I’ll shoot”, can ALWAYS be passed off as an accidental discharge. Most juries will forgive the shooter in that circumstance.
A warning shot fired into the air, especially if joined with a verbal warning, will NEVER be considered anything but a warning shot.
If you kill the goblin, the major information for a grand jury/jury will come from YOU, and if there are not other witnesses, it will ALL come from you. It is important that those juries, and the police before you get to juries, ALWAYS hear that you were in fear of your life and/or in fear of your family’s lives.
In Oregon, where I live and did 25 years of police work, I NEVER heard of even one case where anyone was convicted after properly testifying that he/she was in fear of his/her life.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:04 am
Not it.
I know the rule, so I wouldn’t do it. Of course, the type of person who would fire a warning shot could just tell them afterwards, “he spun my direction in a threatening manner, I fired and missed.”