Man to be arrested for toting rifle.
This looks like a case of some people really over reacting to me.
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/118466401148560.xml&coll=3&thispage=1
EDIT: Here is the email for the newspaper [email protected]
This looks like a case of some people really over reacting to me.
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/index.ssf?/base/news/118466401148560.xml&coll=3&thispage=1
Tuesday, July 17, 2007By RON COLQUITTStaff Reporter
Mobile police said they plan to arrest a man today who scared people Friday evening as he walked through a Spring Hill neighborhood with a loaded, semiautomatic AK-47-style rifle.
Officers confiscated the rifle Friday but could not take the man into custody until they had a warrant signed by both a magistrate and the man who made the complaint, Mobile police spokesman Officer Eric Gallichant said.
Gallichant said that on Monday, a magistrate signed a warrant for a charge of disorderly conduct, and officers expected to obtain the signature of one of the witnesses today. Once that is done, the man will be arrested, he said Gallichant said, however, that he would not release the man's name Monday because officers had not yet obtained the second signature needed to activate the warrant.
While it is not illegal to carry an assault rifle, it is against the law to use the gun to alarm people, Gallichant said.
"I think it is important that people understand that although he may not be specifically charged with carrying a weapon out in the open like that, just the act of doing so can cause public alarm, which is covered by disorderly conduct," Gallichant said.
"Carrying one around in that manner in the neighborhood, even though he did not point it at someone, is not to be taken lightly."
The man who had the gun lives on Oakwood Lane, Gallichant said.
Jeferey Quinelly, another Spring Hill resident, filed the complaint and most likely will be the person to sign the arrest warrant, Gallichant said.
Spring Hill resident Sean P. Costello said the man, who is in his early 20s, was spotted by several people about 6 p.m. Friday, walking along Oakwood and Dilston lanes.
Costello said Monday that he did not see the man, but two of his neighbors and his gardener did. He said that although no one saw the man point the rifle at anyone, people were frightened. He said the gardener, who had just started cutting the grass, was so frightened that he fled without finishing the job.
Costello said the whole incident frightened his 4-year-old daughter.
Even though the man didn't threaten anyone or point the rifle at them, such incidents can lead to violence, Costello said.
"When you've got someone walking up and down the street with a loaded assault rifle ... there is always the possibility that it can get out of hand, and people can get hurt," he said.
Larry McCoy, owner of Larry's Gun Shop in the 2700 block of Pleasant Valley Road just off Government Boulevard, said Monday that he sells a Romanian-made, AK-47-style weapon for $400.
McCoy said federal law states that a person 18 or older who is not a convicted felon can legally purchase a semiautomatic assault rifle.
Anyone who meets the federal requirements can be in and out of his shop within 10 minutes, armed with an AK-47-style weapon and bullets.
McCoy said, however, that he will not sell an assault rifle to anyone under 21 because he does not believe a teenager is mature enough to handle such a weapon. He said the Spring Hill incident disturbs him.
"It is not socially acceptable," McCoy said. "You just don't do that."
EDIT: Here is the email for the newspaper [email protected]
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