Political Crossfire Forums

Margo

I'm hoping someone out there can help me out...my sister-in-law was involved with a man for years who turned out to be a real nutcase. In and out of mental hospitals (bi-polar who won't stay on his medicine), alcoholic, homeless at times, the whole bit after she threw him out.
At this point in time, he still cycles in and out of these time periods where he scares the hell out of her with maybe 40-50 phone calls a day at work and home demanding money. She's so frightened of him that she is convinced he is stalking her when he's in these cycles and has since installed an elaborate alarm system at her home. The police know all about the guy, she has PFA's out on him, too.
My father-in-law lives next door to her. He "borrowed" our .357 magnum last summer when the cycle was awful. Now, my father in law is an ex Marine who served in Korea, he doesn't take any s**t from anyone! He once had this guy by the throat against the wall and his feet weren't touching the floor!
Question:
If he were to shoot this guy trying to harm my sister in law, will I get into trouble for loaning him the gun in the first place??
Thanks for any insights you can give...I'll get the gun back if we would be dragged into anything...

Otacon · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:23 am Post subject:

No, you wouldn't get in trouble. It's your father-in-law who might get in trouble for shooting the guy, but as long as the cops don't think you loaned it to him so he could kill him, you should be fine.

OneZero · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 3413

Margo wrote: I'm hoping someone out there can help me out...my sister-in-law was involved with a man for years who turned out to be a real nutcase. In and out of mental hospitals (bi-polar who won't stay on his medicine), alcoholic, homeless at times, the whole bit after she threw him out.
At this point in time, he still cycles in and out of these time periods where he scares the hell out of her with maybe 40-50 phone calls a day at work and home demanding money. She's so frightened of him that she is convinced he is stalking her when he's in these cycles and has since installed an elaborate alarm system at her home. The police know all about the guy, she has PFA's out on him, too.
My father-in-law lives next door to her. He "borrowed" our .357 magnum last summer when the cycle was awful. Now, my father in law is an ex Marine who served in Korea, he doesn't take any s**t from anyone! He once had this guy by the throat against the wall and his feet weren't touching the floor!
Question:
If he were to shoot this guy trying to harm my sister in law, will I get into trouble for loaning him the gun in the first place??
Thanks for any insights you can give...I'll get the gun back if we would be dragged into anything...

It depends on where you live. If you need to have a pistol permit to have a gun, yes you will. Otherwise probably not. A good place to ask is the local police department, they'll be happy to help you out.

cplcarlman · Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 36

You would not get in trouble unless your father-in-law is somehow legally excluded from carrying a gun. For example, if our father is a convicted felon, you can get in trouble.

I would also add that unless your father-in-law accompanies your sister-in-law everywhere she goes, that she get firearms training including CCW, and she provides herself with a self defense weapon. In the mean time, she should protect herself with some other sort of defense weapon (mace, taser, etc...)

perdidochas · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 15424 Location: Florida

Margo wrote: I'm hoping someone out there can help me out...my sister-in-law was involved with a man for years who turned out to be a real nutcase. In and out of mental hospitals (bi-polar who won't stay on his medicine), alcoholic, homeless at times, the whole bit after she threw him out.
At this point in time, he still cycles in and out of these time periods where he scares the hell out of her with maybe 40-50 phone calls a day at work and home demanding money. She's so frightened of him that she is convinced he is stalking her when he's in these cycles and has since installed an elaborate alarm system at her home. The police know all about the guy, she has PFA's out on him, too.
My father-in-law lives next door to her. He "borrowed" our .357 magnum last summer when the cycle was awful. Now, my father in law is an ex Marine who served in Korea, he doesn't take any s**t from anyone! He once had this guy by the throat against the wall and his feet weren't touching the floor!
Question:
If he were to shoot this guy trying to harm my sister in law, will I get into trouble for loaning him the gun in the first place??
Thanks for any insights you can give...I'll get the gun back if we would be dragged into anything...

Well, it depends on what state you live in. In a liberal state, you'd better get back your gun. In the South, I wouldn't worry about it. If you live in a different state than your father, I would ask a lawyer about it.

Margo · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:29 am Post subject:

We're in Pennsylvania.....

perdidochas · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 15424 Location: Florida

Margo wrote: We're in Pennsylvania.....

That's a tough one. I don't know how liberal or conservative you are. As one of the other posters said, ask a local police officer (or a lawyer). If I were you, my main fear wouldn't be the law (provide your FIL is legally allowed to own a gun, and you both live in PA), but the liability. Crazy's family is likely to sue both your FIL and yourself.

bigstick61 · Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:00 pm Post subject:

As long as you don't live in Philadelphia, you should be fine, so long as your father-in-law is not prohibited from owning or possessing firearms. If he shoots and kills him in defense of himself or your sister-in-law, then there should be no problem.

armstrong001 · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 648 Location: Grand Junction, CO

If your father in law does actually shoot this guy, he'd better make sure the guy is dead. It sounds harsh, but he shouldn't be shooting anyone if he doesn't feel it is necessary to kill him. And only wounding him allows the nutcase to come back in court and claim something else happened, possibly resulting in your father in law going to jail.

OneZero · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 3413

armstrong001 wrote: If your father in law does actually shoot this guy, he'd better make sure the guy is dead. It sounds harsh, but he shouldn't be shooting anyone if he doesn't feel it is necessary to kill him. And only wounding him allows the nutcase to come back in court and claim something else happened, possibly resulting in your father in law going to jail.

^excellent advice! If you feel the need to shoot them, shoot and kill.
That being said, do NOT empty an entire mag into the guy after he is down, the courts tend to look down on that kind of thing.

alclarkey · Joined: 12 Jul 2005 Posts: 1596

All this stuff about liability will go away when castle doctrine sweeps the country like I believe it will.

leftneckredwing · Joined: 13 Nov 2004 Posts: 32350 Location: North America

If he shows up with a weapon and uses it in a threatening manner, blow his s**t away.

It won't matter how or who he got the pistol from. It may come out later and be quite embarrassing, but it's too late to do anything about that now, unless you can somehow get it back.

I really hope this turns out all right for you and your family.