Local story yesterday - Lawyer drops gun in courthouse, gets arrested

F

Futo Inu

New member
Saw a quick blip on 10:00 news last night I found interesting. Here is my paraphrase as I recall it.

A local attorney was arrested today for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, when the gun he was carrying in the county courthouse fell from his body, hit the floor and discharged, putting a hole in [something - maybe the wall].

So my understanding from this story is this atty (I don't know him) is guilty of all of the following:

1. Carrying without a CCW permit
2. Carrying in a state bldg (prohibited even with a CCW permit)
3. Dropping ("de-concealing"?) his weapon in public (no holster?);
4. Carrying a crappy firearm that discharges when you drop it; and
5. Being negligent in so dropping and carrying a crappy firearm causing a discharge (civil liability).

One time I accidentally took my pistol into the courthouse in my briefcase, but as soon as a realized it, I hightailed by butt back out to the pickup. Even though I believe the CCW laws infringe our 2nd Am rights, this guy was still a dope to do all of these things.

[This message has been edited by Futo Inu (edited February 24, 2000).]
 
Interesting ... you would think that a lawyer who knows the law would know better. Then again, maybe he wanted to get caught so he could do a test case of some of the laws that he will be charged with breaking.
 
Hey, he may be a moron, but if he's a good lawyer he might further the cause if he challenges the stupid laws he will be charge with.
 
Hey, Futo, welcome back! Long time, no see. ;)

If the 'lawyer' intended to test the law, then points 1, 2 and 3 are understandable. But because of point 4, TAZ got it right except for the verb he chose, the lawyer is a moron.

[This message has been edited by Mal H (edited February 24, 2000).]
 
Illegally possessing a concealed weapon.
Possession of a weapon in a state building.
Negligent discharge of a firearm within city limits.
Reckless endangerment.

There are others depending on the state your in. Also, the wording may change from one state to the next, but the spirit of the laws in practically universal.

The guy will be lucky to not be disbarred and sent to prison.

Erik
 
I don't know how many of you fellas are in SASS but a dropped weapon is not only a DQ but makes you look pretty bad . With the responsability of carrying comes the responsability of .....well , carrying . That means to control it at all times .Anti's eat this stuff up . Here in Orange Co. CA there is a metal detector at the door . You WILL go through it . We have had some bad things of late hence the precautions . But a LAWYER !!! And to just DROP it !!! . That's dumb . If a LEO spotted it that would be one thing but to drop it shows no brains at all . I sure wouldn't want him to be my attorney at the last appeal before execution . HEY !!! Let's chip in and hire him for that scum sucker that dragged that poor kid .

------------------
TOM SASS MEMBER AMERICAN LEGION MEMBER NRA MEMBER
 
Crap, I got the story wrong. He did have a CCW permit, but he was under a temp. restraining order viz-a-viz his spouse due to problems in his pending divorce!

So does the unconstitutional Lautenberg bill prohibit one from carrying a firearm (trumping state CCW law) when under a domestic restraining order, or only from BUYING a gun? I thought it was the latter. At any rate, this guy was booked into jail.
 
Up until the last two posts I was thinking the lawyer might be smarter than most thought. I know a lawyer in another state whos carry gun is an old S&W top break in 38s&w loaded with magsafe because a revolver made before the turn of the century is not, by law, a firearm. Federal firearm laws refer to pre 1900 guns as curios and relics not firearms. In many states carrying such a pistol cannot be punnished because it does not meet the letter of the law. The lawyer I know has been arrested twice but was released because, according to the letter of the law, he was not guilty. My friend is not in a state that allows concealed carry for anyone who is not a LEO.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by FUD:
Interesting ... you would think that a lawyer who knows the law would know better.[/quote]

There are many different kinds of lawyers. Not all lawyers practice that kind of law. I'm not a lawyer, but I have worked with international trade lawyers, and there's no reason they would know anything about gun laws.

Besides, do you think anyone would risk jail time to test the law? Personally, I think this guy was just plain stupid.
 
Well, considering that most lawyers originated from an accidental discharge...

('sall right, Dennis, you'll figure it out sometime...)

:), Art
 
Here's an update (total hearsay, mind you, from a lawyer friend):

It was a Glock 9mm pistol (unknown model), and did not discharged when dropped, it discharged when he was "playing" with it, probably squeezing the trigger to take it down.
 
URGENT: I need to know the state, the town, the courthouse if possible, this idiot's name, what media the story ran in, as many details as possible.

ESPECIALLY if this was in California.

If's he's in CA and has a CCW permit, odds are he's some kind of crony. I've been tracking abuses done by permitholders who gained their permits via connections, campaign contributions and the like.

Jim March
Equal Rights for CCW Home Page http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw
 
This guy sounds like an antigunner nut sabtoging the ranks of those CCW people. Just a paranoid thought :D

That or he has the intelligence of a blind dumb billy goat.

DaHaMac
 
DaHa, you don't mean Jim March, do you? What he's saying is he's exposing how crony-influenced CCW holders (as you get in discretionary states like CA and CO) are relative dopes compared to average Joe CCW holders - the public at large - who are armed in non-discretionary states. Sounds like a pretty good thing, to demonstrate that we're safer with shall issue laws than with discretionary laws - it would be a bee in my bonnet too if I lived in CA or the like.

Jim, unfortunately though, this is in a shall-issue (non-discretionary) state. Oklahoma City, OK. Oklahoma County courthouse.

[This message has been edited by Futo Inu (edited February 26, 2000).]
 
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