MKE,
I can say I gave you my opinion without bias. I think the people being critical of me and saying things like I"got it wrong" have a pro OC agenda and were not looking at the scenario objectively.
Let me preface by saying I am Pro- constitution all the way, and am no different about the second amendment. I believe in the right, your right, to arm yourself as you deem necessary to feel capable of defending yourself and others. Also, I am glad you did not take my critical view as a personal attack. Points for you!
To the point.
Let us consider some of the possible outcomes to the scenario:
One outcome is the one you mentioned. Perhaps one of the only good outcomes.
There seems to be lots of bad ones possible.
A: They see an armed stranger approaching them and they arm themselves as well.
What if the encounter actually ended in a gun fight? Even if they initiate the gunfight, you are in a tight spot.. legally speaking. You may have been within your legal rights to carrry your weapon, but the DA's office is going to consider that YOU initiated contact and that you were armed. If there were no witnesses readily available you would, assuming you survive, be faced with their story against yours. Obviously they are not going to admit they started the gunfight... and it's back to the fact that you initiated contact. Some who like to argue may say something like "there is nothing illegal about initiating contact." They're right, but a DA's office is going to consider that you approached these people at night, on their property, wearing dark clothes, and armed. The other party's story won't be that you nicely came up and politley asked them to turn down the music. They are going to say you came up yelling and screaming... maybe brandishing. Even if you don't get convicted, going through the legal process is a big PITA.
B: They see a darkly dressed stranger approaching, in the dark while armed, and they call the police.
Sure you haven't broken any laws, but has this stopped MKE and other WI departments from affecting a DO arrest?
What if the other party says you came onto their property and refused to leave? You have already admitted being there, and it's going to be their(the victims') story against yours. A bad spot to be in....trespassing while armed. Yep, you'll probably beat it(but maybe not. innocent people DO get convicted), but you may have to go through some legal process and it's a PITA. You may not get your gun back for quite a while. When it does come back, it may be in a plastic bag and covered with tons of fingerprint powder, inside and out.(Trust me on this one)
C: They see the gun and get defensive, tell you to go pound sand. Then you are left with alienated neighbors who may be the type to do something about it.. slash tires, rocks through windows... take your pick of several annoying harrassments.
D: Instead of just some inconsiderate dudes hanging around, they are genuine thugs. Sounds like you were fairly close to them... at the sidewalk of a very short driveway. Could you have drawn, acquired a sight picture and fired if they unexpectedly moved against you? You don't really know. Neither do I, to be honest. It would suck to find out, either way.
Ultimately, I feel that there are too many possible bad outcomes over such a small thing as loud music. I say small compared to... life and limb.
"I wager you would not have had the same response had you been concealed carry."
This translates to: You intimidated them into turning down their music.
Is that the person you want to be? Just about all of us have played their music too loudly at one point or other in our lives. Just about all of us turned it down without the intimidation of a gun. Most of us apologized to the unarmed person and then we turned our music down.
Since you were scared, and since there were many possible bad outcomes, I think the prudent thing to do would be to let the cops handle it. You can even tell the cops "Hey, I don't want to make trouble for anyone, I just want them to turn their music down."
I can say I gave you my opinion without bias. I think the people being critical of me and saying things like I"got it wrong" have a pro OC agenda and were not looking at the scenario objectively.
Let me preface by saying I am Pro- constitution all the way, and am no different about the second amendment. I believe in the right, your right, to arm yourself as you deem necessary to feel capable of defending yourself and others. Also, I am glad you did not take my critical view as a personal attack. Points for you!
To the point.
Let us consider some of the possible outcomes to the scenario:
One outcome is the one you mentioned. Perhaps one of the only good outcomes.
There seems to be lots of bad ones possible.
A: They see an armed stranger approaching them and they arm themselves as well.
What if the encounter actually ended in a gun fight? Even if they initiate the gunfight, you are in a tight spot.. legally speaking. You may have been within your legal rights to carrry your weapon, but the DA's office is going to consider that YOU initiated contact and that you were armed. If there were no witnesses readily available you would, assuming you survive, be faced with their story against yours. Obviously they are not going to admit they started the gunfight... and it's back to the fact that you initiated contact. Some who like to argue may say something like "there is nothing illegal about initiating contact." They're right, but a DA's office is going to consider that you approached these people at night, on their property, wearing dark clothes, and armed. The other party's story won't be that you nicely came up and politley asked them to turn down the music. They are going to say you came up yelling and screaming... maybe brandishing. Even if you don't get convicted, going through the legal process is a big PITA.
B: They see a darkly dressed stranger approaching, in the dark while armed, and they call the police.
Sure you haven't broken any laws, but has this stopped MKE and other WI departments from affecting a DO arrest?
What if the other party says you came onto their property and refused to leave? You have already admitted being there, and it's going to be their(the victims') story against yours. A bad spot to be in....trespassing while armed. Yep, you'll probably beat it(but maybe not. innocent people DO get convicted), but you may have to go through some legal process and it's a PITA. You may not get your gun back for quite a while. When it does come back, it may be in a plastic bag and covered with tons of fingerprint powder, inside and out.(Trust me on this one)
C: They see the gun and get defensive, tell you to go pound sand. Then you are left with alienated neighbors who may be the type to do something about it.. slash tires, rocks through windows... take your pick of several annoying harrassments.
D: Instead of just some inconsiderate dudes hanging around, they are genuine thugs. Sounds like you were fairly close to them... at the sidewalk of a very short driveway. Could you have drawn, acquired a sight picture and fired if they unexpectedly moved against you? You don't really know. Neither do I, to be honest. It would suck to find out, either way.
Ultimately, I feel that there are too many possible bad outcomes over such a small thing as loud music. I say small compared to... life and limb.
"I wager you would not have had the same response had you been concealed carry."
This translates to: You intimidated them into turning down their music.
Is that the person you want to be? Just about all of us have played their music too loudly at one point or other in our lives. Just about all of us turned it down without the intimidation of a gun. Most of us apologized to the unarmed person and then we turned our music down.
Since you were scared, and since there were many possible bad outcomes, I think the prudent thing to do would be to let the cops handle it. You can even tell the cops "Hey, I don't want to make trouble for anyone, I just want them to turn their music down."
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