Every group of people, including people who carry concealed, have some bad apples in the group. It statistically happens across the board and will always continue to do so. It is extremely important to note however, that people who carry a firearm are some of the most law-abiding people in the country.
Then, we have this guy. Meet Matrix Richard Lee, who was sitting at the beach with his fiancee at Como Lake in St. Paul, Minn. when he noticed someone inside of his vehicle.
According to charges, Lee and his fiancee were sitting on a bench at Como Lake when he saw movement near his car, noticing a white car next to the passenger side of his vehicle, his fiancee’s purse in plain view. Lee said he saw a woman exit his car carrying his wife’s purse and get into the driver’s seat of the white car.
What happened next is a mountain-high no-no for anyone carrying a firearm. Lee tried to catch the purse thief, but she was already in her vehicle and driving away. She apparently drove toward Lee and made a “some sort of gesture” with her hand. This was enough to make Lee retrieve his handgun and fire a shot at the vehicle. Then, the driver of the vehicle flipped him off and this angered Lee, so naturally he fired another shot at the vehicle in an attempt to shoot out one of their tires.
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On this second shot, Lee propped his firearm up on a stranger’s car hood to steady his shot. Really, man? You aren’t in a movie, and you aren’t in danger.
The park was filled with people that day. Even if it wasn’t, Lee has no valid excuse to discharge his firearm against people who are driving away with a purse.
Lee’s permit to carry his firearm was taken by police, as well as his firearm.
I love gun rights just as much as the next guy reading this article, but the truth is you can’t fire at a person unless you are in fear of grave bodily harm or death. It’s actions like the ones described in this situation that give cc’ers a bad name.
It only takes one bad story.
