Man with BB Gun Causes Scare & Lockdown

[knight0334]

http://www.whptv.com/news/local/stor...c-be9987198718

I'm thinking the only person to cause alarm would be the idiot that called the police, and the over reactive persons in charge to shut down places and call in the mass of LEO's.

[KeithPA]

Gonna be a bit hard to prove "intent" on this one for disorderly conduct.

People go into a tizzy about everything these days. Sounds like that guy with a BB gun downtown on a roof in Pittsburgh.

[ChamberedRound]

Agreed. The only one that caused panic was the idiot who made the phone call, and he/she is being hailed as a good citizen.

The only reason that the man was charged with Disorderly Conduct was because they couldn't charge him with anything else, given that he wasn't breaking the law. When in doubt, use the Disorderly Conduct "catch-all".

[RoyJackson]

I'm sure the DA will drop the charges...
However, I do see a substantial lawsuit coming out of this. The shame of that is it'll be tax dollars paying that citizen

[TRB]

This rankles. How is calling the police with a report of "man with a gun" any different than shouting "fire" in a crowded theater? Is there a law against making nuisance calls to the police? The only person who was guilty of anything was the caller who was guilty of disordered thinking.

[Skuggi]

Total Fucking Bullshit. Sorry no better way to say it.

[dmg1969]

I live in the township where this happened and have some insight. You have to understand that just a few days ago, a woman was shot and killed in her husband's psychiatry office in the Medical Arts Building a VERY short distance away (less than a mile). The shooter is still at large. It is my understanding that this office also houses the offices of some psychiatric doctors.

While it turned out to be nothing, I can honestly say that I can't blame someone for calling the police if they see someone walk through the door with a gun in hand. Supposedly, the guy was bringing it in for his boss who needed to "kill some varmints" on his property. Why could he not have had the boss come out to his car and put it is his car. Or...why not drop it off at the boss's house? I think they both need to go to one of the head doctor's offices in their building.

There may not have been any malice or criminal intent, but walking around with a gun so close to where there was a murder just a short time ago is not the smartest thing he could have done.

[axmdr40]

dmg, good insight. They still shouldn't have charged the guy, its simply ridiculous. The writer of the article is also a complete nimwit.

[ChamberedRound]

This rankles. How is calling the police with a report of "man with a gun" any different than shouting "fire" in a crowded theater? Is there a law against making nuisance calls to the police? The only person who was guilty of anything was the caller who was guilty of disordered thinking.

This is a very good point, I never thought about that before. Makes complete sense to me. And once again, guns are an illogical exception. If the call was for any panic-inducing reason OTHER than guns, the caller would likey have been prosecuted.

[Rule10b5]

While it turned out to be nothing, I can honestly say that I can't blame someone for calling the police if they see someone walk through the door with a gun in hand.

Absolutely.

It's all about context:

If I see someone walking into an office building around here (Radnor) with what looks like a rifle, uncased, you bet your ass I'm calling the police. That sort of shit, while perfectly legal, is enough out of context to warrant at least someone checking it out.

If I see the same thing at my local hardware store or in town out in the boonies where I live (Landenberg), I'm not going to do a thing because it's normal.

If it's nothing, then the police should apologize, and tell him to go about his business; no harm, no foul.

This isn't like someone walking around open carrying in a holster -- this is like seeing someone walking down the street with an unholstered handgun.

Would anyone here be the slightest bit taken aback at the sight of someone walking around like that in an urban/suburban area?

I don't bat an eye when I see someone holstered walking into an office building or store -- but unholstered? I start thinking about whether to wet myself now, or wait until later.