Totaly off topic, Gun law question

[LJRockstar]

Last night I witnessed an act of stupidity above and beyond anything I have seen in quite a while.

Last night was a friend of mine's 30th birthday....

He and another friend of mine were DJing at the local bar here in Philly. As the night progressed the two of them began to get wildly drunk in true birthday fashion. Then the birthday boy (Who is an AVID gun collector) Decided it would be a good idea to go shoot off his AK-47 behind a nearby abandoned warehouse.

So he gets friend 2's keys and goes home to get it. When he returns he recruits friend 2 to drive for this mission (Keep in mind that friend 2 is having a hard time standing up) All of us in the bar who know these two are actively trying to talk them both out of it. (With very little success)

Birthday boy and friend 2 pile in the pickup and are trying to get turned around. While this poor attempt at driving is going on birthday boy is sitting shotgun (Pun intended) loading a clip with the barrel of the AK hanging out the passenger window of the truck. Friend 2 manages to complete his 16 point tire smoke filled turn and they zoom off down the street while all of us are pleading with them to rethink their horrible decision.

They turn right and are now out of sight. Now all of us are still at the bar nervously waiting to find out the outcome. About 15 minutes later I get a text message explaining that all is well and that they are at the local Diner eating omelette's and drinking chocolate milkshakes.

Now thank god nothing happened and there was no Police involvement. but had it gone bad what would the outcome have been? I know what they did was a federal offense so it definitely would have brought jail time... But how much? I know there is going to be an argument of sorts the next time I see these two chuckle heads and I want to be able to intelligently defend my position.

I was never fearful of someone physically getting hurt, just losing their freedom over something completely STUPID!!!

 

[jeff@work]

Wow. In my opinion I wish there had been police involvement. 30th bday celebration or not actions like that deserve jail time. Unless I'm reading it wrong they were clearly not only driving while drunk but driving recklessly while drunk with a loaded assault rifle... just thinking about that almost leaves me speechless. People easily could have been killed from the drinking and driving or from the 2 idiots firing off the assault rifle thinking they're shooting at something solid not thinking about where stray bullets could go.

If it had been my friends 30th bday and he was acting like that I would have been the good friend and left him with a concussion to go along with his hangover. Those two put other peoples lives in jeopardy. How would you be feeling right now if they had caused a car accident and killed someone? Or not only have a car accident but due to the accident wind up accidentally firing off the ak-47...right into another bar or car. I think if you couldn't physically stop them from going you should have called the cops on them. The right decisions isn't always the easy one.

That said sorry but i really can't answer the original question, i do not know what kind of jail time or specific penalties they would have been looking at.

 

[VikingVince]

Well...here's my .02...you said birthday boy was wildly drunk...you and friends should have physically prevented him (whatever necessary) from driving to get the AK in the first place. That would have been the responsible thing to do as well as in your friend's best interest.

 

[lowenbrau]

Plenty of stipidity there all right. The most dangerous weapon in the story had tires. It turns out that a vehicle registry doesn't stop crimes using vehicles. I don't know why my gov't thought a gun registry would stop gun crimes.

Sorry I can't help you with the Gun Law question.

 

[LJRockstar]

I agree that more should have been done to prevent the situation, but in my own defense, none of us new what was up until he returned with the weapon. and at that point I was not about to take a swing at an armed person. I am disgusted with the actions of the two key players. But I really don't want to send friends to jail.

 

[Lynn]

Wow, where to start??

So many things went wrong here...

I'm sure my opinion won't be popular with some, but here goes... I drink, but I have never been drunk. Partially because I'm afraid of what I might become. Every drunk I've seen over the years has become someone different than they were sober, and not someone I want to hang with.

Last night was a friend of mine's 30th birthday....

He and another friend of mine were DJing at the local bar here in Philly. As the night progressed the two of them began to get wildly drunk in true birthday fashion.

Whether they were hired to DJ or just doing it as a favor, getting 'wildly drunk' while 'on duty' is the most minor error they committed.

Then the birthday boy (Who is an AVID gun collector) Decided it would be a good idea to go shoot off his AK-47 behind a nearby abandoned warehouse.

So he gets friend 2's keys and goes home to get it. When he returns he recruits friend 2 to drive for this mission (Keep in mind that friend 2 is having a hard time standing up)

You titled this thread r.e. gun law, but the drunk driving was just as stupid and dangerous as handling firearms while drunk.

Now thank god nothing happened and there was no Police involvement.

Police involvement might have been a good thing. Think of it as intervention, before they do get someone killed.

I know there is going to be an argument of sorts the next time I see these two chuckle heads and I want to be able to intelligently defend my position.

I was never fearful of someone physically getting hurt, just losing their freedom over something completely STUPID!!!

Freedom should be the least of your worries.

Seriously, I applaud that you are going to have a discussion with this friend. Personally, I would try to spell out all the things that they did wrong, the fatal potential that their actions had, and refuse to be around them when they are drunk.

I had a friend several years ago who, ironically, skipped the Hunter's Safety course that he had enrolled in to go camping/shooting. He ended up shooting himself in the leg with a .22 pistol, plus did a couple of other things that were questionable. The rest of us (his friends) asked him to give us all his guns until he completed the Hunter's Safety course, and showed us that he know how to handle guns in a safe manor.

Again, I think you need to convince him that if he can't control his actions while drunk ('wildy drunk,' driving, shooting, and not rational: "while all of us are pleading with them to rethink their horrible decision"), then he shouldn't get drunk. If he can't drink in moderation, he shouldn't drink.

Addited: So many times over the years I've heard friends and co-workers tell me of something stupid or embarassing that they have done, and dismiss it with, "but I was drunk at the time."

That doesn't cut it in my book. If you can't control who you are when you are drinking, don't drink. Being drunk DOES NOT EXCUSE YOUR ACTIONS!

 

[Spikepretorius]

Holy macarena. You guys can own AK47's!!!!!!!!

It's disgusting what your buddies did. Many years ago a "buddy" did something threatening with his gun while drunk. I laid a charge with the cops and it went to court and he had his firearm licence revoked and gun confiscated. I don't regret what I did. That's how tragedies happen.

 

[VikingVince]

I agree that more should have been done to prevent the situation, but in my own defense, none of us new what was up until he returned with the weapon. and at that point I was not about to take a swing at an armed person. I am disgusted with the actions of the two key players. But I really don't want to send friends to jail.

So why didn't you stop from driving when he was wildly drunk?

 

[LJRockstar]

No one knew anyone had left untill birthday boy returned with the gun. Remeber we were at a bar... I was drinking as well as everyone else in the establishment. So all judgment was impaired at some level. I chose to come out in a cab. Others didn't. I didn't make this post to get bashed. I just wanted some info to try and smooth an ugly situation. Nothing about the evening was ideal in any way. I fully understand that very poor decitions were made on all accounts. Some much worse than others. If bashing me is all that is going to happen. I will request to have the whole thread deleted.

 

[Lynn]

Holy macarena. You guys can own AK47's!!!!!!!!

Only in semi-auto, with a barrel over 16", etc. There are some limits.

Unless you have a federal gun dealers (or gun collectors) license.

 

[Spikepretorius]

Sorry. I wasn't bashing. It's a hectic situation to be in.

 

[VikingVince]

Since you started the thread, I believe you can delete it yourself if you want to.
I was only going on the facts presented...and then you elaborated.

 

[Maddmatt]

Honestly I don't know what kind of discussion you'll be able to have. Everything your friend did after leaving the bar the first time was stupid, dangerous and illegal. At this point he either understands that and feels like an idiot, or is living in denial, will call you all sorts of names for not joining in the fun, and will continue with that sort of behavior until he or someone else gets killed.

Personally I cut people very little slack. We all make bad decisions from time to time, but to pile so many bad decisions up in such a short amount of time shows me very little regard for himself or other people. If he was in my life, I would move on. Friends like that are easy to replace. Time spent in jail, the hospital or the morgue is not.

Just my opinion.
-Matt

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Yikes, glad all are still in one piece.

You need a quick lesson in how to strip the dust cover off of an AK ... bolt carrier and various essential bits can be quickly removed to confuse offensively drunken friends.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

LJ, you stated that next time you see your friend there will be "an argument," and you want to be able to "defend" your position.

So, like, do you expect your friend to argue that what he did was okay or no big deal? If you can't come up with specific penalties for all the various stupidities involved, will you lose the "argument?"

What your friend did was inexcusable. If my best friend - heck, if my brother - did something like that and I couldn't physically stop him I would have instantly called the police. If your friend argues otherwise, I would look for a new friend before you wind up an unwitting accessory, either in actuality or in conscience, to a tragedy. You don't need statistics to win this "argument."

Gun owners such as your friend give the rest of us gun owners a bad name. And I would not call him a "collector," which implies a level of responsibility he clearly does not have.