Rochester resident arrested for firing a gun in his yard

[lildog]

http://www.wmur.com/news/11566304/detail.html

Anyone know the details of this story?  WMUR only says that he was shooting at 8PM and he was charged with shooting with 300 from a home.

[slim]

I wonder if they would arrest a person for discharging their weapon inside their own home that they were defending?

[burnthebeautiful]

Police said Kirk Johnson, 52, started shouting at officers when they arrived.

They were able to take the gun from him, but it is still unclear why Johnson was shooting.

Maybe he started shouting because in America you're supposed to be able to shoot a gun in your own back yard without police coming and getting in your face.

It's unclear why he was shooting? Maybe he was shooting because he felt like it. That's a good enough reason for me.

[mvpel]

Do a Google Maps search for "5 Eastern Ave, Rochester, NH" and you'll see why this fellow is not someone any of us would want to get behind and support.  He initiated force against his neighbors.

I wonder if they would arrest a person for discharging their weapon inside their own home that they were defending?

They could, but there's the "justification" chapter, RSA 627, stemming from the legal doctrine of competing harms, which provides an affirmative defense against such a charge.

[LiveFree]

Looking at the google map, it would appear that shooting in the back yard (other than maybe a pellet gun or MAYBE a .22 for tackling pests) would be a bad idea.

[money dollars]

I wonder if they would arrest a person for discharging their weapon inside their own home that they were defending?

I am gunna discharge my weapon in my house, for fun.  

[grasshopper]

  As you can see from my avatar, stuff like this interests me.  I wonder what he shot, I mean what rifle he used.  I know the Rochester area.  1 mile from the Police Station is still in a residential area.  I would not do what he did.
   I lived in Danville N.H. a few months ago and I test fired my rifles after purchase in a 25 acre area with an adequit back stop, a big hill in the middle of the property.  The police investigated but saw that I was safe.  What this man did was really irresponcible and dangerous.  I do not have all the facts but it looks bad.
  What says you?

[money dollars]

Sometimes I do terminal ballistic testing with phone books. Point blank range, with more than double the amount of phone books the bullet will go thru, plus sand bags on the side and in back. I could put my head on the other side and still be safe.

[atr]

He initiated force against his neighbors.

It seems pretty clear to me that this would not qualify as the initiation of force.

Noise is annoying, but it would be strange if the police started locking up landscapers with their leafblowers, lawnmowers, or chainsaws, or after-hours shooting hobbyists. When the government "protects" people from noise--at this relatively low level--what rights are they protecting? How many decibels before sound waves are a trespass or a battery? Perhaps I could see it as a tort--and if the neighbors could show damages they'd have a claim--but a priori criminal regulation like this is not justified.

[forsytjr]

I would say not firing a weapon within 300 feet of other property is a reasonable law, since the bullet can travel 300 feet, or your kids could wander 300 feet off your property and not know it.  That being said, my neighbor took out our other neighbor's rooster (with his permission) using a 22, and we were all OK with that.  If you wanted to set something safe up in your back yard, there is no reason you couldn't clear it with your neighbors.

[Lloyd Danforth]

There are a lot of neighborhoods in Rochester where you could shoot out your back yard and, only, hit someone from Maine

[MaineShark]

I would say not firing a weapon within 300 feet of other property is a reasonable law, since the bullet can travel 300 feet, or your kids could wander 300 feet off your property and not know it.

Not saying that I condone what this guy did, but that's not the sort of logic we should be using.  After all, even small bullets can go a long way (miles, in some cases).

Joe

[mvpel]

It seems pretty clear to me that this would not qualify as the initiation of force.

I'm not talking about the noise, I'm talking about his backstop.

Did you look at the map, and note how his backyard is surrounded by neighbors on every side?  If the Google satellite map is accurate, there may not be any single direction he could shoulder and aim a rifle without pointing it at a building.

One of the principal rules of firearms safety is to know your backstop and what's beyond it.  Not to mention the rule of not pointing a firearm at something you're not willing to shoot.

There's a big tract of forest about four blocks away from the house, why didn't he go over there instead?  If he was in fact shouting at and kicking police officers, perhaps he wasn't thinking clearly in the first place.

[Quantrill]

All good points, mvpel.

I'm all about the guy having target practice, but if it places his neighbors in harms' way then he has no reason to be kicking the cops.  I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for people to kick cops, but this doesn't look like one of them.

[Insurgent]

/quote]