MamaLiberty
Regular Member
imported post
I've emphasized for years that if you have time and opportunity to fire a "warning shot," you most likely do NOT have any honest justification to shoot at all. You are justified only by an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm. It would seem that this person didn't think his cousin was in IMMEDIATE danger of death or he would have shot the person beating him.
Of course, I think the PA "law" is useless, but this illustrates the problem of a "warning shot" fairly well.
PA: Idiot judge upholds irrational ban on firing guns
Penn Live
“A Lancaster ordinance barring people from firing guns has passed its first court test. Lancaster resident Curtis Swinton, who has a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon, was charged after he fired a gun in a restaurant parking lot in December 2007. He told police his cousin was being beaten up and he fired a warning shot to disperse the assailants. No one was injured. Swinton says only the state can make such gun laws and the ordinance bars people from defending themselves. But Lancaster County Judge Joseph Madenspacher this week upheld the ordinance, saying it has enough exceptions to allow people to defend themselves in court.” (04/02/09)
http://tinyurl.com/d2a3ar
I've emphasized for years that if you have time and opportunity to fire a "warning shot," you most likely do NOT have any honest justification to shoot at all. You are justified only by an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm. It would seem that this person didn't think his cousin was in IMMEDIATE danger of death or he would have shot the person beating him.
Of course, I think the PA "law" is useless, but this illustrates the problem of a "warning shot" fairly well.
PA: Idiot judge upholds irrational ban on firing guns
Penn Live
“A Lancaster ordinance barring people from firing guns has passed its first court test. Lancaster resident Curtis Swinton, who has a permit to legally carry a concealed weapon, was charged after he fired a gun in a restaurant parking lot in December 2007. He told police his cousin was being beaten up and he fired a warning shot to disperse the assailants. No one was injured. Swinton says only the state can make such gun laws and the ordinance bars people from defending themselves. But Lancaster County Judge Joseph Madenspacher this week upheld the ordinance, saying it has enough exceptions to allow people to defend themselves in court.” (04/02/09)
http://tinyurl.com/d2a3ar