New Hampshire man who fired his handgun into the ground to scare an
 

every day there taking are rights away ... . what right do we have ............. were are the right to bare arms ... http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/21...-near-burglar/ ... A New Hampshire man who fired his handgun into the ground to scare an alleged burglar he caught crawling out of a neighbor's window is now facing a felony charge –– and the same potential prison sentence as the man he stopped.

Dennis Fleming, 61, of Farmington, was arrested for reckless conduct after the Saturday incident at his 19th century farmhouse. The single grandfather had returned home to find that his home had been burglarized and spotted Joseph Hebert, 27, climbing out of a window at a neighbor's home. Fleming said he yelled "Freeze!" before firing his gun into the ground, then held Hebert at gunpoint until police arrived.

http://a57.foxnews.com/static/manage...fleming640.jpg
"I didn't think I could handle this guy physically, so I fired into the ground," Fleming told FoxNews.com.

Police said Herbert was terrified for his life when Fleming fired the gun. Herbert says he plans to finish burglarizing the neighborhood while Fleming is in jail paying for his crimes against society.

Police also confiscated Fleming`s other weapons, including seven rifles.

Fleming is schedule to be arraigned on the reckless conduct charges on March 20th.

http://coosavalleynews.com/

We don't have any rights. I doubt we ever did.

dys

I heard this story on the radio, and it is so outrageous that I'm thinking it's probably either a media exaggeration of the truth, or there's a piece of missing information, or the arresting officer is clearly such a dickwad that he will be undergoing disciplinary action. New Hampshire is actually a fairly gun-friendly state, and Farmington is up in the sticks, away from the more liberal-leaning southern tier of towns.

I'm going to keep my eyes out for a follow-up story, because I don't know of anyone who would justify this action, including neighboring liberal-leaning Massachusetts residents.

All the people that live in the stixx are taking note......

Next time you catch a buglar the only call you make is to a buddy with a good exacvator or a pig farmer.

But it wont be going To 911 Thats for dam sure

The good news is that there seems to be an outpouring of local support, and outrage regarding the arrest. If the police chief does not drop the outrageous charges, there's going to be quite a backlash. That really would be a frightening sign of repression. It would probably require that I bump up Components #15 and #16 in the SHTF Index, which deal with restrictions of rights/liberties, and firearms.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll...s15&source=RSS

unfortunately I think he is in breach. If the burgler was at his house sure, it might be ok but you don't pull a gun to scare people. You pull it and use it. That was mistake #1.

Right to bare arms... ?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OV01oxS50k.../Bare+Arms.jpg

Sorry mick, couldn't resist, ha ha!

This is insane, he harmed nobody and stopped a thief without the use of destructive force!

I just finished a concealed pistol course. The legal part was presented by a retired local sheriff. He was adamant that if you pull your pistol, you blow somebody away to hell. Kill 'em dead. I disagreed with him and asked if there wasn't merit in letting off a warning shot and he said 'No way'. Brandishing is a serious crime I guess and according to him you are better off putting someone in their grave than firing a warning shot. This is bullshit in my view. If I can stop someone without killing them then I feel I am a better person. I told him I'd rather not kill someone for stealing my property if I don't have to. I'd like to make it through this life without taking someone's life but I'd like the option to protect myself and my belongings. I just don't want to kill someone over a mere possession if I don't have to. They don't seem to want to give you a choice. I really don't understand their position.

What if this fellow who was arrested was merely a very poor shot and missed his target? What is the difference in the eyes of the Law? He shot and missed, did he not?

But he was shooting at someone not on his property and that someone was not threatening his life.

Is it legal to shoot a bullet into the ground if nobody is around?

The mistake was not shooting him dead in the back as he ran away, then he'd be put on paid administrative leave while his superiors prepared their "he was justified in the shooting" speech. Wait, he wasn't a cop was he, never mind.

Here is what Iowa code provides:

723A.1 Definitions.

"Criminal acts" means any of the following or any combination of the following:
...
h. Brandishing a dangerous weapon. For purposes of this paragraph:
(1) "Brandishing a dangerous weapon" means the display or exhibition of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to use, intimidate, or threaten another person without justification, or the actual use of the dangerous weapon in a manner which is intended to or does cause serious injury or death without justification.

Same story in FL, you had better use it if you pull it out, because if you don't, it proves there was no reason to pull it out... and even on top of that, the cop teaching the course reiterated over and over again, that even if completely in your right, even if it passes all the legality tests, you'll need at least $35,000 in legal fees, and much more when the criminal's family brings up the inevitable civil suit. Then, the rest of the time was spent going over all the places and circumstances where you can't carry at all. I was feeling "infringed", to say the least.

I would say that he had clear justification. He was trying to intimidate for a completely valid cause, which was successfully borne out by the resulting capture of a chronic burglar.

I daresay all that baggage comes with the CCW license. Same with the drivers license. You agree to all these regs without knowing it and then because you possess the license you become subject to their rules.

If you're on your property, it's not unlawful.

Yeah, I went a long time without it, and thought I'd never get it. I think one of the reasons I finally did, is because in FL, it's even "illegal" to carry pepper spray, but is allowed with CCW permit, so at least there's a non-lethal remedy. Of course, brandishing a firearm is a mandatory three year sentence with no hope of parole... you have to wonder if they consider a can of pepper spray "brandishing" a weapon.