Washington state man cites Biden’s advice in shooting case

[dan_bgblue]

"I did what Joe Biden told me to do," Barton told KOIN.com following his arraignment hearing. "I went outside and fired my shotgun in the air."

It was only a matter of time
(http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/18/washington-state-man-accused-illegally-firing-shotgun-cites-bidens-advice/)

[BigBlueBrock]

Didn't Chuck say this would happen? I mean, if you ever start off a sentence with "I did what Joe Biden told me to do," you done frakked up.

[suncat05]

Stupid is as stupid does!

[CitizenBBN]

lol, yep only a matter of time. Had a person ask a question about "warning shots" just yesterday and asked if he was Senator Biden.

It's dangerous, you are liable almost everywhere in this country for any harm caused by such a shot, and it's illegal outright to discharge the weapon like that in many if not most populated areas. Biden told the whole country to commit a crime. He should have been disbarred as a Delaware attorney, at least admonished, but given that he cheated in law school I guess he's got some kind of long term exemption on his bar status.

[KeithKSR]

I could get by with it in my unpopulated rural area, unless I was intentionally attempting to scare someone.

[CitizenBBN]

It definitely depends on the location Keith, but as a general principle it rubs up against good muzzle discipline with a gun so as to make it a broad "no, don't do it" situation with exceptions if any. If you're not near others, if you have no regulations against discharging a weapon, etc. it is possible, but in general the law takes the view that to discharge a weapon for defensive purposes you need to be in great risk of harm, so if you meet that requirement you probably don't have time to take a warning shot, and if you have time to take one you probably aren't in imminent danger and thus aren't justified in discharging the weapon.

not saying there's "no" case where you don't use one b/c there are always exceptions. Scaring an animal off may for example be more applicable than a person, but the problem is the liability that attaches to any pull of the trigger and the fact that most people live in a place where firing a weapon is an inherent risk to others. You shoot when you have to, and by the time you have to it's risking your safety to not shoot to stop someone or something.

That's the general "rule", not Biden's reversal where you shoot shotguns in the air if you think you hear something outside your home at night. It really is something right out of a 50s sitcom or cartoon with granny from the Beverly Hillbillies on her porch blasting her shotgun to scare off someone. That's his advice, "What Would Granny Do".

You know, that's going to get made up, I love that one.