Hero or vigilante or stupid press?
Definitely the latter. Self-defense does not make one a vigilante. Also, I found this interesting:
Harry McCullough could still face a misdemeanor charge for carrying a concealed weapon.
Douglas County Attorney, Don Kleine has already said Harry McCullough won’t face criminal charges for shooting Marquail Thomas to death in the Walgreens Monday night. City officials are now deciding if he should be cited for carrying a hidden gun, when he only has a permit to carry his gun in plain sight.
City officials say they will decide by Friday if McCullough will be cited for the misdemeanor.
April 29th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Wow, look at the bias in just the first paragraph. “Public opinion is heavily slanted toward “hero” for the man who shot and killed an alleged robber Monday night. ”
Using the loaded word “slanted” implys that the public opinion is wrong. And then there’s the whole “alleged” thing to.
April 29th, 2010 at 9:40 am
Or maybe he just saved his own ass, and everybody else was along for the ride.
Of course my vote goes for stupid press…because that’s the truth.
April 29th, 2010 at 10:58 am
This entire story is clearly fabricated—everyone knows that armed citizens will never be able to actually use their firearms in split-second self-defense, it’s just a total Rambo fantasy. Wait, or is it that an armed citizen will just start shooting wildly in all directions, slaying bystanders, before being shot by police arriving on the scene? I forget.
Jokes aside, he knowingly broke the law, why shouldn’t he be cited? The reason he doesn’t have a concealed carry permit in the first place is because he’s ineligible due to a 1997 misdemeanor conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.
Anyway, here’s a refreshing change:
April 29th, 2010 at 11:03 am
I found it interesting that there are different permits for open v. concealed. Coincidentally, TN has an interesting law that basically says it is an affirmative defense from prosecution to violating gun laws if you used your weapon in lawful defense.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
The whole hero vs. vigilante thing is silly. Defending yourself doesn’t make you a hero, either.
April 29th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
So Drug Dealer runs towards Gangbanger’s car with an AK-47, spray-firing from the hip, and gangbanger shoots him dead in legitimate self-defense by firing several clips from his Uzi machine gun, and the gangbanger can’t be prosecuted for having the automatic Uzi with shoulder thing?
April 29th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Xrlq, hence the third option.
Guav, Well, sure, if it’s deemed lawful self defense.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
That’s dumb. That’s like saying if someone wards off an attack with a rolled-up child porn magazine, as long as the self-defense itself was lawful and warranted, they can’t be prosecuted for possessing child pornography. That makes no sense at all to me.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Well, I guess they’d rather someone illegally carrying in a bar stop a mass shooting rather than not due to gun laws. It does specify handgun so the AK thing and porn mag don’t count. Also, there have been a couple of cases where someone tried this defense and it didn’t work. I’m guessing it’s one of those laws with a wide range of discretion built into it.
text of bill.
April 29th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Oh …. OK.
April 29th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Affirmative defense does not equate to an automatic get out of prosecution card.
April 29th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Uncle, Nebraska has a preemption law which prohibits Omaha or any other city, town or locale from instituting gun laws that are not in exact accordance with state law. It is illegal for them to require a city permit to buy or possess firearms and registering firearms in Ne is also against the law. And they just ignore it. State law does require a state permit for concealed carry and no permit at all for open carry. Yet, Omaha violates the law regarding both open and concealed carry permits and the purchase permit and the prohibition against registration.
While the guy in the story violated state law if his gun was truly concealed I would think an affirmative defense would be appropriate and in a just court would get him acquitted. However, I must ask why the State’s Attorney hasn’t brought charges against the political structure and police dept and sheriff’s dept for continuously violating state law. Perhaps we should start there?