Quandary, what would you do?

[Larry Ashcraft]

How's this for a qaundary:

My nephew lives a couple miles from here in a trailer court with his wife and two little kids. They had a stereo stolen out of their minivan a few nights ago. They replaced the stereo and replaced it with a new one which was again stolen the next night. A night later someone was pounding on their door and then apparently went away.

SO... They went out and bought a gun, cheap gun is all I know about it. They went out and shot it a bit.

Trouble is, my nephew is a felon. Seems he worked at a pizza place and the boss left some company checks out where he and a friend could get to them, and they did. I won't make any excuses for him, he is a criminal, but he is still family.

I'm afraid my nephew or his wife are going to try to shoot someone trying to steal their stereo. What do I do?

1) Offer to train him in the use of the handgun, and laws of use thereof, and hope for the best?
2) Try to talk him out of owning the handgun (which I'm totally against, he has a right to protect himself).
3) He's on his own. He made his nest, now sleep in it.

I guess what troubles me is, he is a pretty good kid with a sweet wife and two sweet little kids. I'm afraid he is just going to end up in a heap of trouble if I don't help in some way.

Before the flames start, remember, I didn't raise the kid, he's just related to me.

 

[lycanthrope]

That's ugly.

Have him ditch the handgun for a shotgun.....at least he could claim sporting purposes and he much less likely to be tempted to carry concealed.

Educate him and put things in perspective. His family losing him to prison isn't worth the fight for a stereo.

 

[AnthonyRSS]

Is his wife a felon? Try thinking from that angle, and maybe yall can come up with something. I think she should do the shootin, if any shootin is to be done.

Anthony

 

[Preacherman]

- If he uses a gun, he goes to jail.

- If he stays where he is, he loses his stereo and perhaps other possessions as well.

- If he moves, he avoids both of the above problems.

Solution? Move!

 

[Ryder]

They didn't buy the gun until after pounding on the door? Sounds like they have their priorities straight to me. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Jeff White]

This thread is not the place to debate if felons should have RKBA

Larry,
Try to get him to sell you the gun. If he's having that kind of problems with his neighbors or people in his area, the police will most likely be there to take reports etc. One of the officers will most likely run a criminal history check on your nephew just to see what kind of person he's dealing with. The felony conviction will show up, and if the gun or ammunition is spotted, he'll go to jail.

It's not worth it, a wife and two young kids, that's a lot to lose.

I know you don't want to talk him out of the gun, but if that kind of activity is common in that trailer court, the police will most likely be around a lot. Sooner or later they will aquire knowledge of the gun and then there will be more legal problems then he can handle.

Unfortunately, people in those type of low rent districts tend to know everyone elses business and they like to talk to the police when the mood hits them.

Try to help them get into a better neighborhood if you can.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you. The situation is not good and unfortunately there aren't any good solutions.

Jeff

 

[Fred Fuller]

Is the wife a convicted felon? If not, SHE owns the gun (IF it's legal, it may be 'hot' if they bought it on the street- another potential can of worms there). A small safe/lockbox that only SHE has access to will solve the possession issue, again IF the gun is not on the record as stolen.

And train HER, as thoroughly as possible. If the wife also has a record, the gun's gotta go, period.

Best bet is to talk them into moving elsewhere, someplace more safe.

Good luck with it,

lpl/nc

 

[Spot77]

As G. Gordon Liddy always says, "My wife has a fine gun collection."

All kidding aside, Jeff's advice is right on. Sacrificing a few personal luxuries is, in this case worth keeping his freedom and keeping his family together. Maybe he can petition to get his 2A rights back? Sounds like a white collar crime to me unless there's more to the story than just stolen checks. No violent crimes, right?


Crummy situation to be in.

 

[pax]

Larry ~

Practical advice only below. Moral advice, none. That's for you to decide; but I have to really care about someone an awful lot before I'd be willing to put my own skin on the line for them ...

Unless your nephew's wife is disqualified for some reason, get her some training. Shove as many books and as much useful material into her hands as possible, and discuss with her what she can and cannot legally do to defend herself and her family. Make sure she understands that if she wants her family to stay together, if a firearm is ever needed to defend them, she had better be the one wielding it.

Discuss home security with both of them if you can -- better locks, better lights, closing windows and locking doors, prickly bushes under windows, etc. Far better the gun never enters into the equation.

Try to convince them to move if they can (may not be possible, but worth trying).

Or, um. Distance yourself and let it go. Depends how close you are to them and how badly your life would be affected if theirs went south.

pax

 

[Oldtimer]

It's entirely possible that your nephew would be able to have that non-violent felony "expunged", but it would probably cost a minimum of $2,000. Until then, he is violating another crime, in that he is a convicted felon who owns or "has access to" a firearm. If he ever has to use that firearm, even in a justifiable situation, he may end up having yet ANOTHER felony posted on his criminal history!

Personally? If he was my nephew, I'd "invest" some of my own money to get him out of that hole. Trailer parks are NOT the best place to live, and those cute kids of his might end up becoming "trailer park trash". If you can afford to help him out, tell him that it's a gift....but, keep it open to being a "loan" if he won't accept it as a gift.

Pardon this analogy, but if you live in a toilet, it's just a matter of time before it gets flushed!

 

[jd25q]

Depending on your state laws, just saying that the gun is his wife's wont help him. If it's in the house he can be charged. Particularly since he bought it.

 

[NineseveN]

That's an unenviable situation if I ever saw one man, I have never thought about such a scenario. Wow, hard to advocate braking the law, hard not to and risk the safety of a loved one...hmmm. Did they talk with the local police before getting the gun? They might have been able to help in some way. Contrary to popular belief, most LEO's do care and in smaller towns or communities, they tend to go above and beyond, even in the poorer crime-infested ones. In fact, some of the kindest, most honorable LEO's I know are the ones that work in the worst paces, by choice.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Thanks for the replies and advice, they are all valuable to me.

A little background: My wife has five sisters who range from having more common sense than should be allowed, to not knowing when to come in out of the rain. My wife is at the top end, nephew's mother is on the low end. This kid grew up in another state and came here after marrying. He was brought up by an abusive father and a dimwit mother. I believe after his stint in prison, he came here to try and turn his life around and to be around some more sane family members.

He has a good job and I believe they will try and buy a house, but with two little kids, that can be tough.

I haven't seen the gun yet, but I really don't think she would have bought it illegally. She just wouldn't do that.

Pax, I intend to get her over to my place for at least some safety training (I have a berm in the back yard) and maybe some self-defense training.

I guess there's not much I can do about the legal issue other than to let them know what the consequences will be (and I already have) if they get caught. They will just have to be very careful and discreet.

The shotgun is a good idea, and I would have suggested it. They didn't ask me, probably since I'm the one who informed them that he couldn't legally have access to a gun (apparently nobody told him that when he got out of prison ).

 

[Kodiaz]

I have a similar problem with my aunt. Her husband is a convicted felon. When hurricanes come I always stay at my aunt's house. I take my guns with me. After Katrina I decided to take a shotgun too. After Wilma people acted really stupid. My aunt lives in a good neighborhood. We still had problems. I'm trying to find out what the story is with bringing a couple of guns to my aunt's for after the hurricane.

 

[gunsmith]

in CA one time

a felon used his roomates gun to protect his family and was prosecuted but the state lost.
I've heard of other cases where the state won.

Of course you should get rid of that gun...

& when the next "bad guy" climbs thru the window you wrestle the gun away from him and use it on the bad guy...

if a bad guy breaks in and you disarm him and shoot him with his own gun ..you might get off...see what I mean...wink wink

 

[joab]

Educate him on the laws concerning a felon in possession of a firearm.
Educate him on the laws concerning using deadly force in self defense, the two laws are not contradictory.
Felons do have the right to use a gun to defend themselves they just don't have the right to actually have access to one, go figure.

Make sure he is aware of the consequences and let him use his own judgment.