Posted on 09/07/2010 8:01:18 PM PDT by Coleus
A homeowner who grabbed a rifle from his house and fired warning shots in a confrontation with a group of men on his lawn faces criminal charges, but his family said he was defending his home from a threatening mass of strangers.
George Grier, 30, fired rounds into the ground and air from an assault-style rifle after arguing with a large group of men gathered outside his Long Island home Sunday evening, Nassau County police said Monday. No one was hurt.
His sister, Caprice Rines, said Grier feared for the safety of his wife and two small children when about 20 men converged on his Uniondale lawn after two of them began quarreling. He didn't know the men, who ignored his requests to leave and kept approaching the house, she said.
It was great.
George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.
“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.
Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.
“He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/
Wasn't that the point he was making?
One more reason down here we say Southern by the Grace of God!
What goes up, must come down.
I don’t live far from the scene of the incident, and from what our local papers are saying the mob on the man’s lawn were hispanic gang members. From photos, Mr. Grier is a black man. The town of Uniondale is primarily black and hispanic and is not a very nice place. In the last 25 years or so, the area has become very crime ridden. The papers do not say why these gang members were on Grier’s lawn in the first place, but it seems terrible that a homeowner cannot protect his own domicile from harm. I did not know that Long Island would consider Grier’s action criminal. Can’t wait to leave this place.
Yep. Clint Eastwood. A M1 Garand. What could be wrong with that?
You may be right.
But if he did it would be obvious to the guys on his lawn.
To fire blanks from a semi-auto rifle you have to do one of two things.
One; manually cycle the bolt for each shot.
Two; install a special attachment over the muzzle of the rifle to provide the backpressure necessary to cycle the bolt automatically. (Typically this attachment is about three times the size of the muzzle of the rifle and painted orange so that the training officer can see that it is installed)
Either one of these things makes it obvious to anyone familiar with guns that you are firing blanks.
If you have a recoil operated semi-auto you just have to manually cycle the bolt.
Do we know he was arrested for the air shot and not for firing, period?
Is that a good movie? Someone gave me the DVD for my birthday, but I still haven't watched. Clint lost me as a fan with the craptastic movie about the girl boxer who pulled the plug at the end.
‘Firing bullets into the air can kill someone else.’
I guess you didn’t read the article. Read before posting.
Go read it again if you’re missing my point.
In NY this is probably true.
I merely state that firing in the air is reckless. No one should do that especially in an urban setting. You cannot predict where the shot will land.
The smart way to fire a warning shot is to fire in to the ground as close to vertically as possible
Of course firing a warning shot at all is debatable.
Warning shots are for idiots that saw too many movies.
Great movie...if you enjoy watching un-politically correct tough old codgers delivering beat-downs on hip-hop gang thugs!
Watch it, I think you will like it. (for the record, that other movie did nothing for me either...I thought it was BS)
“What goes up, must come down.”
But shots FIRED INTO one’s lawn need not come UP!
This guy did a few very stupid things. He showed a weapon before one was, strictly speaking, necessary, hoping it would talk for him, thus telegraphing fear. He fired 4 “warning” shots into the ground after being challenged by a punk who correctly assessed that he was afraid of using the gun. He fired a shot into the air.
Guns are very serious things; when a man points one he ought to mean it. Guns aren’t made for negotiation.
They wouldn't know a cap pistol from a .270 rifle......
Based on the story linked from post 22, I’d have to take this guy’s side 100%. I hope the courts rule in his favor. He’ll probably have to move his family away now, though.
This story reminds me of another story in NY a few years ago. In that story, the homeowner used an old gun that wasn’t registered, and a teen was killed. The homeowner was sentenced to two years.
I hope this guy isn’t charged with anything. He only shot warning shots. With all the gang activity, how else are the residents supposed to protect themselves?
They're for use AFTER the warnings have failed.
I had to sit there quite some time...during the credits. Kinda choked up....
My girl really liked the movie too...we laughed out loud 5-6 times....
You should watch it, FRiend.
Best FRegards,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.