25 August 2015

Armed Citizens: How NOT to Do It

From the Alaska Dispatch News:
A Soldotna man faces third-degree assault charges after Alaska State Troopers say he grabbed his shotgun and went outside to confront a pair of dog-walkers Saturday morning when he could have used his cellphone to call 911.

Troopers arrived at 40-year-old Abelicio Gomez's home after they got a report around 10:15 a.m. about a disturbance between him and a man and woman walking their dogs down Sacaloff Drive, troopers said in an online dispatch Monday.

The man and woman, who troopers did not identify, reported Gomez's dogs went into the roadway and almost attacked their dogs, troopers said.

"The male unholstered a pistol he was carrying but did not fire it or point it at the dogs or A. Gomez," troopers said.

Gomez saw the man, ran back into his home, retrieved a shotgun and went out to the road in front of his driveway, troopers said. The man and woman called 911 and "retreated away from the property," troopers said.

"A. Gomez had a cellphone and could have contacted 911 instead of grabbing his shotgun and running out onto the roadway to confront the male and female," troopers said.

Gomez was charged with two counts of third-degree assault and taken to the Wildwood Pretrial Facility. He posted bail by Monday, according to court records.

One handled it correctly. The other one choose poorly.

Let's be careful out there, mmkay?

8 comments:

Matt said...

Good grief. Sounds like he was having testosterone issues.

Rev. Paul said...

It seems people flash back on some western or other, and have illusions that it'll turn out like their favorite scene ... or something.

They're usually dead wrong.

Old NFO said...

Not good... Not at all...

Rev. Paul said...

NFO - you're just saying that because it could have been so bad. Heh.

B said...

So, lesse here... Facts as presented:

man walking down the street brandishes a pistol...

Dude living on the street brandishes a shotgun.

Dude who called 9-11 first gets the win.

Had you brandished a pistol at the end of my driveway, at my dogs, I think I'da done the same thing.

Why isn't Mr pistol brandisher in jail as well?

Rev. Paul said...

B - facts as presented by the State Troopers:

Mr. Pistol unholstered his pistol, but didn't point it at anyone. That's brandishing, and he didn't do it. No one was threatened at all. The trooper said as much; perhaps you missed that point. The pistol was for the attacking dogs, if needed.

Mr. Shotgun pointed it at the two passers-by who - up until that point - had been minding their own business.

Mr. Shotgun made a very poor decision, while Mr. Pistol did exactly what he needed to do to keep himself and his wife safe, but not an inch more. It's called self-defense, and, at least here in Alaska where we're still nominally free, it's allowable under the law.

If I'm forced to defend myself against an unprovoked dog attack, and you feel threatened by that, then perhaps you've missed the point of this blog.

Alec said...

Wish I lived in a place where people could legally walk down the street with a gun. Alaska sounds pretty good.

Rev. Paul said...

Alec - two words: Constitutional carry. No permits, concealed carry, open carry ... all legal, and local governments are prohibited by the Alaska constitution from changing any of that.