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Woman Shoots Son

This story raises all sorts of questions. 

A 21-year-old man whose mother shot him in the groin Thursday night told police he was trying to be funny by wearing a ski mask and pretending to rob her, but investigators aren’t necessarily buying his story, a Milwaukee police spokesman said Friday.

Police are trying to determine if the man was actually trying to rob his 37-year-old mother, Sgt. Mark Stanmeyer said.

The man said he pretended to rob his mother behind their house in the 3700 block of N. 13th St. as she returned from shopping about 9 p.m., according to a statement from the Police Department.

His mother drew a .357-caliber revolver and fired several shots, hitting her son at least twice, the statement says.

[...]

The woman surrendered to the first officers on scene. The gun’s serial number had been obliterated, according to the police statement.

Yeah, I don’t buy the son’s story either. 

Kudos to the woman for taking her personal security seriously.  I don’t have any issue with the fact that she shot a guy in a ski mask who was attempting to rob her.  She has a right to defend herself.  Of course, the obliterated serial number raises an eyebrow, but it isn’t illegal to scratch up your own gun and the ownership of the gun isn’t in question.  Here in Wisconsin, she has committed a crime by carrying the gun in the first place, but I suspect it would be difficult to get any jury to convict her given the circumstances.

Posted by Owen at 1713 hrs
Culture + Firearms + Law + Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

1. Why is the mom in jail for defending herself in her own home?? Most of these cases the homeowner gets questioned and then released.

   Neither one of these people are in line for mother or son of the year. Robbing your own mother is just about as low as you can possibly get…  shooting your own son has to rank just above that, but I’m giving the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t recognize him, or that he made some statement that led her to believe her life was in danger?

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2010 at 1808 hrs
   
   
   

2. It is illegal (Federal law) to obscure or alter the serial number of a firearm.  I think the BATF might have something to say to her.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2010 at 1810 hrs
   
   
   

3. “Here in Wisconsin, she has committed a crime by carrying the gun in the first place, but I suspect it would be difficult to get any jury to convict her given the circumstances.”

   Not necessarily.  If she was open carrying it is perfectly legal.  If she has a reasonable belief that she was in danger of being harmed (under the Wis. S. Ct. decision in Hamden) she can even conceal.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2010 at 1811 hrs
   
   
   

4. I do understand why the police made the initial arrest. I would be very unhappy with police who just took the word of the shooter and freed her. I do expect her to be freed shortly after a hearing if the story is reasonably accurate.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 05, 2010 at 1923 hrs
   
   
   

5. If she has a reasonable belief that she was in danger of being harmed (under the Wis. S. Ct. decision in Hamden) she can even conceal.

   That’s only an affirmative defense though.

   Sounds to me like there’s a bit more to the story. Gonna be interesting to see what the rest of it is…

   Posted by Strings on February 06, 2010 at 0102 hrs
   
   
   

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