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Gun comment leads to jail time

Started by Kat Kanning, May 07, 2006, 09:34 AM NHFT

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Kat Kanning

Gun comment leads to jail time
   

Melanie Plenda

A Keene man who was initially charged with threatening a Keene police officer with a gun and a Harrisville man who drove his car at a man were sentenced recently in Cheshire County Superior Court, along with several other people.

Raymond Audet, 59, of 2 Finch St., Keene, was sentenced to 12 months in the Cheshire County jail in Westmoreland, with eight months suspended and two years probation, after pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor reckless conduct from last July in Keene.

Audet was accused of asking if Keene police detective William Sargent thought he was important because he had a gun, according to court records, then telling Sargent he had a gun, and putting his hand in his pocket.

Audet refused to take his hand out of his pocket, according to court records, and police later found a gun in his pocket.

As part of his sentence, Audet is not to consume alcohol or other drugs for the duration of his probation. He is also never allowed to possess a deadly weapon.

Audet originally was charged with felony criminal threatening. The charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement and the indictment was changed to read that Audet recklessly placed Sargent in danger of serious bodily injury. Under the felony count, the charge read that Audet placed Sargent in fear of imminent physical contact.

d_goddard

Three lessons I take away from this:

1) We live in a quasi-police state, where saying the wrong thing to the wrong person can land you disproportinate punishment

2) Don't threaten cops with violence. Ever. Not even obliquely. Not even if you're just joking. Never!

3) Parents need to teach their children about firearms. This man's daddy or mommy should have taught him well, when he was just a young'n, that you never use a firearm to threaten, only to defend; you only draw when you intend to fire

Yeah, he didn't draw his weapon, but in my book, if you tell someone you have a gun in your pants, and then you stick your hand in your pants, you have come damn close to drawing a weapon, and you've demonstrated that you didn't learn lesson #3 above... which means you probably aren't safe around firearms in general, period.

I credit the police officer that kept his cool and didn't shoot the guy first.

Atlas

Yeah, Mr. Plenda could be a dead man in most other locales

KBCraig

Or, he could have been dead if facing a private citizen instead of a cop.


tracysaboe

Quote from: KBCraig on May 07, 2006, 02:03 PM NHFT
Or, he could have been dead if facing a private citizen instead of a cop.



Doubtfull. Statistically private citizens are less likely to use deadly force, and they're also less likely to shoot the wrong suspect. Bottom line, they're not as trigger happy.

Obviously stats don't speak to this particular individual situation, but I don't think a private citizen would have shot him untill the gun was actually drawn.

2ndly, he wouldn't have said something like that to a private citizen  either.

It was a dumb thing to say. Gun wielders should never advertise that they've got a gun. It's like martial arts. You don't want to set yourself up as a target by braging about how tough you are.

That said, too many cops think they're all that just because they've got a badge and a gun.

TRacy

Recumbent ReCycler

What he said was dumb, but I think the sentence was way too harsh, and will cost the taxpayers a lot more than it should have.  I think that a more appropriate sentence would be something like 40 hours of community service.  That would give him plenty of time to think about how dumb his statement was.  I never advertise to a cop that I have a gun.  If they ask if I have one, I might tell them, or I might not. 

KBCraig

Quote from: tracysaboe on May 07, 2006, 02:46 PM NHFT
Quote from: KBCraig on May 07, 2006, 02:03 PM NHFT
Or, he could have been dead if facing a private citizen instead of a cop.



Doubtfull. Statistically private citizens are less likely to use deadly force, and they're also less likely to shoot the wrong suspect. Bottom line, they're not as trigger happy.

Obviously stats don't speak to this particular individual situation, but I don't think a private citizen would have shot him untill the gun was actually drawn.

You're absolutely correct, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. What I meant was, a private citizen doesn't have a practical option to arrest him, and probably has a lot less experience facing a threat of deadly force.

Personally, I'd have broken retention. If he'd made a suggestive move, I'd have finished the draw and covered him. And if he'd made a move to actually drawing, I'd have fired.

Quote
2ndly, he wouldn't have said something like that to a private citizen  either.

Why not?

Quote
It was a dumb thing to say. Gun wielders should never advertise that they've got a gun. It's like martial arts. You don't want to set yourself up as a target by braging about how tough you are.

So, you don't believe in open carry?

Personally, I prefer to stay concealed. There are times that I carry open, mostly when I'm not concerned about the people who might see me do so. But, I strongly support the right to carry open, concealed, or taped to your forehead.

That said, having the right doesn't necessarily make it the wisest choice.

Kevin

d_goddard

Quote from: KBCraig on May 08, 2006, 02:51 AM NHFT
I strongly support the right to carry open, concealed, or taped to your forehead.
Just remember to tape the handle to your forehead, with the barrel pointing away from you.

My god, this is degenerating to the level of an FTL BBS discussion :P ;)

Russell Kanning

If there were no government cops in Keene, would this situation have even happened?

tracysaboe

Quote from: KBCraig on May 08, 2006, 02:51 AM NHFT
Quote from: tracysaboe on May 07, 2006, 02:46 PM NHFT
Quote from: KBCraig on May 07, 2006, 02:03 PM NHFT
Or, he could have been dead if facing a private citizen instead of a cop.



Doubtfull. Statistically private citizens are less likely to use deadly force, and they're also less likely to shoot the wrong suspect. Bottom line, they're not as trigger happy.

Obviously stats don't speak to this particular individual situation, but I don't think a private citizen would have shot him untill the gun was actually drawn.

You're absolutely correct, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. What I meant was, a private citizen doesn't have a practical option to arrest him, and probably has a lot less experience facing a threat of deadly force.

Personally, I'd have broken retention. If he'd made a suggestive move, I'd have finished the draw and covered him. And if he'd made a move to actually drawing, I'd have fired.

Quote
2ndly, he wouldn't have said something like that to a private citizen  either.

Why not?

Quote
It was a dumb thing to say. Gun wielders should never advertise that they've got a gun. It's like martial arts. You don't want to set yourself up as a target by braging about how tough you are.

So, you don't believe in open carry?

Personally, I prefer to stay concealed. There are times that I carry open, mostly when I'm not concerned about the people who might see me do so. But, I strongly support the right to carry open, concealed, or taped to your forehead.

That said, having the right doesn't necessarily make it the wisest choice.

Kevin


I fully support the right to open carry.

But I also feel that in todays society advertising the fact that you have a gun is a good way to invite trouble. Now, if a person can nonchalantly carry openly w/o drawing attention to the fact, then that's differen't.

Tracy

tracysaboe

Quote from: KBCraig on May 08, 2006, 02:51 AM NHFT
Quote
2ndly, he wouldn't have said something like that to a private citizen  either.

Because "you think you're so powerfull because you've got a gun." is an anti-authoritative statement. The only person to say that sort of a thing to is a cop. Because regular folks DON'T think they're all that just because they have a gun.

It's a simular thing to. "you think it's OK to kill just because the government's the one doing it." Or, "You think you're special just because you've got a badge."

You don't say things like that to normal citizens. You say things like that to coersive agencies that think they can step on you just because the law says they can.

Tracy

tracysaboe

Quote from: russellkanning on May 10, 2006, 02:34 PM NHFT
If there were no government cops in Keene, would this situation have even happened?

No.

Pat McCotter

Quote from: tracysaboe on May 10, 2006, 05:37 PM NHFT
I fully support the right to open carry.

But I also feel that in todays society advertising the fact that you have a gun is a good way to invite trouble. Now, if a person can nonchalantly carry openly w/o drawing attention to the fact, then that's differen't.

Tracy

The more people who open carry the more this will happen.

citizen_142002

I don't think that this incident had anything to do with an antigun bias on the part of the officer. I know officer Sargent, not well but I've met him, and he isn't some anti-un fascist cop.

There is a lot that we don't get from a written article. A lot of factors how I would react to something like that are going to be subtleties, like body language and tone of voice.

The drugs and alcohol part of the sentence makes me think that this guy was probably on something when this happened. His sentence seems a little strict, but at least no one got hurt in that rather dangerous situation.

KBCraig

That niggling something in the back of my mind finally became clear: I don't care for this story being characterized as "Gun comment leads to jail time".

Audet didn't wind up in jail by making a casual comment about having a gun. He wound up in jail by making threatening remarks and gestures, while in possession of a gun and threatening to use it.

Kevin