Community Service for Virginia Gun Show ND

It looks like the gents who fired off a mistakenly loaded rifle at a gun show in Virginia a while back have been sentenced to 40 hours of community service, after being charged with obstruction of justice and recklessly handling a firearm.  Given that, and this incident here, it’s probably best to follow this guy’s advice here, and not talk to the police if you have an ND in Virginia.  Especially in a case like this, where the dealer negligently brought a loaded rifle on to the show floor.

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6 thoughts on “Community Service for Virginia Gun Show ND”

  1. Amazing nobody got hurt. Gun shows are so crowded and things like ricochet and fragmentation can cause injury to people who aren’t even in the direct path or being muzzle-swept….

  2. If you’ll allow a pretty extreme tangent, I’m moving more and more into the “don’t talk to police” camp in general. At the federal level, both the Martha Stewart and Scooter Libby convictions moved me in that direction. Neither was convicted of the original crime they were investigated for; both were convicted of lying to police or the prosecutor. Well, maybe they deliberately lied, I don’t know, but on the evidence publically available, it may also be they were trying to be helpful and got some dates wrong. Lesson learned: if I can go to federal prison for a good-faith factual error or mis-statement, I’m damn well clamming up until I get a lawyer – and my calendar.

  4. Having worked as a prosecutor in Virginia, let me just say that 40 hours community service (and then the charges dismissed, no less!) doesn’t even rise to the level of a slap on the risk. Where I worked, you’d get harsher punishments for petit larceny, possession of marijuana (first offense), or driving on a suspended license. This is what it looks like when the local Commonwealth’s Attorney doesn’t want to prosecute but feels obligated to uphold the law.

  6. Considering the danger of the situation, I’d say it was appropriate. Had that shot gone into the crowd, he would have been F’d. Negligence should not be encouraged.

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