'Keep moving!' Couple brandish an AR-15 and a handgun at protesters

[blues]

Sure seems so to hear some tell it.

You can certainly ask them to leave...I've done so when a couple of bow hunters were crossing behind my home to track a coyote...but your options are limited if they turn a deaf ear. (Calling the sheriff's office would have been what I'd have had to do had they not complied.)

The danger is allowing things to escalate...and appearing to be the one responsible for things spiraling out of control. Nobody wants to feel powerless over their lives. But these days it seems that you're always within spitting distance of a court appearance.

[Spartan1980]

But these days it seems that you're always within spitting distance of a court appearance.

And that right there is the actual problem. Even when you're within the law and actually wearing your halo. We need to fix that problem somehow...

[blues]

And that right there is the actual problem. Even when your within the law and actually wearing your halo. We need to fix that problem somehow...

Well, I agree...in that we are an overly litigious society, but you won't end up in court for merely telling people to get off your property. It's in the aftermath of that point that the gray area often emerges.

Things can change if you come out of your home visibly armed and are considered to be brandishing by local authority. Of course, that's state law and will vary from one state to another.

I'm far from an expert on state laws, even my own, though I do keep Branca's book within feet of where I sit to refresh my recollection from time to time. (In regard to the law as regards self-defense.)

[ccmdfd]

But these days it seems that you're always within spitting distance of a court appearance.

Yep.

Long before that though, you will be tried and most likely convicted in the court of public opinion. Pictures and videos of your exploits will be plastered all over CNN, Facebook, Etc, etc and most of these platforms, sites always do their best to place gun owners in a bad light. Cameras are everywhere nowadays.

Then throw in a little bit of cancel culture, and you may find that your life is significantly impacted in a negative way. This guy is an attorney, people choose to come to him for work. According to previous posts in this thread, it seems he tends to lean leftward, and it's quite possible that a lot of his left-leaning friends are no longer going to want to send him clients, and other work. Other law firms, Banks, Etc May refuse to work with him now.

cc

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Fight/flight/posture submit.

Fight, flight, fear, freeze - not to nit pick but that's another formulation. Fear is not to move but to be in control of oneself. Freeze is to become immobile and not able to move, perhaps to void your bowels and urinate. The rationale for freeze is that some animals won't eat dead prey they didn't kill and defecating indicates that you are dead.

Good read on this perspective is

Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger (MacSci) 1st Edition
by Jeff Wise (Author)

The sexual assault literature reports large percent of victims say they couldn't move. Not a decision not to move, but they couldn't. Interestingly, those who fought or cognitively decided not to resist seem to have better psychological outcomes (not that any outcome was good) than those who froze.

I argued earlier that there will be negative business and social consequences, but that was poo-poo'ed. Watching corporations and individuals being caught up in the current social firestorm, they will be also.

[Ed L]

I am seeing reports that police executed a search warrant Friday evening at the home of the couple. The police seized the AR-15 from the couple. The couple told police that their attorney has the pistol that was seen in the photos.

[JodyH]

Justice will be served I'm sure...

[RJ]

So it seems:

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...-at-protesters

Police reportedly seized the rifle seen in a viral video late last month showing a St. Louis couple waving firearms at protesters marching through their gated neighborhood.

Sources told 5 On Your Side, a local NBC News affiliate, that St. Louis police officers executed a search warrant at the home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two personal injury lawyers, on Friday evening. They seized the rifle that Mark McCloskey was seen brandishing and pointing at demonstrators.

[JoeSixPack]

So, with no charges filed let alone a conviction, the State just decided this man has no right to self defense and to disarm him and let the mob rule. Hope he has a backup plan because it's probably time to GTFO.

[WobblyPossum]

So, with no charges filed let alone a conviction, the State just decided this man has no right to self defense and to disarm him and let the mob rule. Hope he has a backup plan because it's probably time to GTFO.

Search warrants are regularly used to seize evidence of crimes during an investigation long before any charges are filed. That’s one of the most common ways police collect evidence so they can bring cases to the prosecutors. I don’t know if the McLoskeys own other firearms besides the two seen in the videos. The article only says the police took the AR. The AR would be evidence since it’s the weapon Mr. McLoskey used during the events in question. Doesn’t sound like the police took any other guns. Other guns in the house wouldn’t be evidence.

ETA: one thing people seem misinformed about is that when the police apply for a warrant before seizing your stuff, and a judge finds probable cause that a crime was committed and the items to be seized are evidence so he signs off on that warrant, that is due process at work. This is how the legal system functions. If the police were there at the scene during the events, they could have seized the firearms in question at the time as part of the investigation. Since this is happening after the fact, the proper course of action is to get a search and seizure warrant.