Homeowner arrested along with the burglar he held for police!!

[NE Bull]

TOTAL BS!!   

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

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/21/new-hampshire-man-faces-felony-charge-after-firing-gun-into-ground-near-burglar/?intcmp=trending

Now, look me in the eyes Mr./Mrs. Senator and tell me, what with our current laws, this situation could never happen in good ol' Nebraska. Go on...

[bk09]

Hope people in our Legislature see this and realize "oh maybe a castle doctrine isn't such a bad idea, everybody is in favor of this man except the law." So a cop can fire a warning shot but if a citizen is witnessing a crime from someone who could potentially be armed they can't? This is total BS

[rluening]

I would certainly hope that a police officer firing a "warning shot" would be in a bit of hot water, too...

/rl

[bk09]

I would certainly hope that a police officer firing a "warning shot" would be in a bit of hot water, too...

/rl

I guess a cop shooting out tires so someone can't flee is a better analogy.

[wrenrj1]

Firing a warning shot usually is an attempt to get someone's attention.  In my CCW course I was taught to fire my weapon if my life or someone else's life was in jeopardy.  It was not his house, and his life was not in danger.   Every bullet fired comes with a lawyer attached.  I guess he'll find out. 

[sjwsti]

Firing a warning shot usually is an attempt to get someone's attention.  In my CCW course I was taught to fire my weapon if my life or someone else's life was in jeopardy.  It was not his house, and his life was not in danger.   Every bullet fired comes with a lawyer attached.  I guess he'll find out. 

Well said.

- Shawn

[bullit]

Yep....even the Po Po are gonna get investigated.  In fact, they are held to an even higher standard e.g. the higher use of TASERs.  The "shooting out the tires" and "warning shots" by LEOs is a thing of the past and TV Land.  They'll probably get fragged today.
The big issue for non-LEOs rests with the term "Terroristic Threat" charge...a result mostly of 9/11.  Seems to be a default charge with a lot a latitude and overuse these days.  Sadly, carries a felony moniker.   

[dcjulie]

While this is a sad situation, I can't really find too much fault with arrest.  They guy stated that the burgler was at his neighbors.  Had he been coming toward him, threatening him, etc., I could see him defending himself, but his quote (granted the press is rarely correct) made it sound like self-defense was an after thought.

If you aren't going to shoot the guy to protect yourself, don't draw the gun.  Call the police, give a great description to 911 while watching the actions, and be ready to defend yourself.  However, shooting into the ground would get you arrested here, too.

[HuskerXDM]

Maybe our disappointment could be at the lack of a consistently applied standard:

http://arklatexhomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=233742

[DanClrk51]

I'm siding with the homeowner. It is completely unreasonable to charge this man with reckless conduct. He fired into the ground and nobody was hurt. What he did worked and kept the burglar at bay. The law needs to be changed to allow for this kind of thing to be legal. We have a right to protect our property and our lives. He didn't shoot the man nor did he shoot in his direction. Such conduct should not be punished.

[Ram Ringer]

One question I have is since he has not been convicted of anything yet. Why were his other firearms seized?

[greg58]

One question I have is since he has not been convicted of anything yet. Why were his other firearms seized?

They were seized because he is a loose cannon!
If the Police would have left him armed, how many more earthworms may have died at his hand??

Greg

[NE Bull]

I'm siding with the homeowner. It is completely unreasonable to charge this man with reckless conduct. He fired into the ground and nobody was hurt. What he did worked and kept the burglar at bay. The law needs to be changed to allow for this kind of thing to be legal. We have a right to protect our property and our lives. He didn't shoot the man nor did he shoot in his direction. Such conduct should not be punished.

The point I think some are missing is that the homeowners own house had been burglarized, leaving him feeling victimized.  As much as we all want to be 100% correct, I believe most of us in that situation would have wanted to stop the perp, which this fella did, in a non lethal sort of way.  Now had he fired past the perp, shame, shot the guy dead without any direct threat of harm, again shame.  ....

[LM4202]

Firing a warning shot usually is an attempt to get someone's attention.  In my CCW course I was taught to fire my weapon if my life or someone else's life was in jeopardy.  It was not his house, and his life was not in danger.   Every bullet fired comes with a lawyer attached.  I guess he'll find out. 

Well said.  The burglar was coming out of his NEIGHBORS house, not his own.  From the article:

"This homeowner fired at the ground, from all accounts, in a safe direction and held a burglar for police and did things correctly," Dean told FoxNews.com. "The fact that this man would be charged is an outrage. Burglars in New Hampshire must know it's open season, since homeowners cannot defend themselves, as evidenced by this case. This is charging the victim."

Ummm. No.  He was not the victim, his neighbor was, and he was not in any imminent threat of serious bodily injury, as the burglar was trying to make his escape.  Fortunately no one was hurt this time.  Suppose he hit an underground gas line, or what if he fired his weapon at such an angle that it ricoheted off the ground and passed through the dry wall of a neighbors house, seriously injuring or even killling someone?  It was just in the news about a kid in his house playing video games when he was struck by an errant bullet.

He should have done what dcjulie said, be a good witness and prepare to defend yourself. 

[LM4202]

The point I think some are missing is that the homeowners own house had been burglarized, leaving him feeling victimized.  As much as we all want to be 100% correct, I believe most of us in that situation would have wanted to stop the perp, which this fella did, in a non lethal sort of way.  Now had he fired past the perp, shame, shot the guy dead without any direct threat of harm, again shame.  ....

If I came home and found my house burglarized, but then saw someone coming out of a neighbors' house  I wouldn't fire, even into the ground.  For one, I couldn't be sure if this was the same person.  It most likely would be, but certainly not enough to fire a weapon.  What if it was the daughter's boyfriend, or god forbid the wife's boyfriend sneaking out of the house?

Where was the imminent danger of serious bodily injury?  Now if he was INSIDE my home and I felt he was coming at me, then that's a different story.