Threats of violence
What do you do when a person who was a police officer threatens you? Well, this guy drew down:
A Mt. Pleasant Township man is fighting to regain his right to carry a concealed weapon after police charged him with drawing a handgun in a public area and threatening to kill a former state trooper.
Court records say David J. Warburton Jr., 49, had his firearms permit revoked in April. Police say Warburton unholstered a Browning .380-caliber pistol during a confrontation with David S. Flagg, 45, on Dec. 4 inside the East Huntingdon Township Wal-Mart.
Westmoreland County Sheriff Chris Scherer said he decided to take Warburton’s permit away after he learned state police charged Warburton with recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment. Warburton’s lawyer, Jeffrey Abramowitz, said his client did not point the gun at anyone and drew it only because he felt threatened by Flagg. Abramowitz appealed Scherer’s decision last week.
“He had no intention of discharging the weapon. He had no desire to do anything but ensure his own safety,” Abramowitz said.
Err, never draw a weapon unless you intend to use it. It’s not just good policy, it’s usually the law. As to why the fuss:
“Absolutely, I felt threatened,” Flagg said. “He asked me twice, in succession, did I want to die tonight.”
May 17th, 2006 at 1:03 am
Court documents indicate that two different people sought restraining orders against Flagg in 1999 and 2000 and that he served a probation term after being arrested for repeatedly harassing a woman between November 1999 and March 2000. Flagg said he and Warburton live near each other in Mt. Pleasant Townbship but do not know each other well.
The “victim” here sounds like a real winner. I’m not sure I agree with Warburton’s decision to draw, but I have to wonder had the tables been reversed, would the cops and the court system have thrown the book at one of their own? I’ve often heard it said that no matter what people think, Pennsylvania is still a “may-issue” state, in that the County Sheriffs still have a fair amount of discretion to deny or revoke an LTC. It’s not generally used, even in the largely anti-gun Philadelphia area counties (where I love), but it exists. In this case, given the charges, I don’t think a suspension is so unreasonable as to amount to an abuse of power, but I would just hope that a police officer in similar circumstances would be treated the same way.
Maybe someday we’ll really live in a society where people’s right to bear arms isn’t treated so trivially, but until then I think it’s fair to ask that ordinary citizens be given the same benefit of doubt police officers are afforded. In a free society we shouldn’t have classes of people who are treated differently under the law just because they carry a badge issued by the state.
May 17th, 2006 at 9:11 am
What scares me is that the “right” to bear arms was revoked simply for being charged with a crime. The man was convicted of nothing and had no due process.
May 19th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
Yeah, Flagg sounds like a bona-fide goblin here. He might have been better off legally if he had gone ahead and shot him.
Translation: Flagg, an ex-state trooper who was drummed off the force and had his concealed carry permit revoked, doesn’t like having his victims fight back, especially not his firearms.
“I replied, ‘no, I would rather wait until you are disarmed and then try to kill you again.'”
“If he always has a gun, I’ll never have another shot at him.”