Sixty-Four Year Old Man is Arrested after Shooting & Killing Two Home Invaders

[Quiet 1]

Lemme go step-by-step to explain where he went wrong. Father died, left behind his Rossi revolver. . . . . . . . . snip . . . .

Excellent, informative post, Wise_A. Let me add this, not as a "nit-pick", rather simply meant as an addendum.

Federal law allows handguns to be directly transferred from estate to an individual, without FFL involvement, by bequest.

Here is a copy of the relevant Federal Statute:18 USC 922
Paragraph (a)(3)(a) highlighted in purple states:

(It shall be unlawful) (3) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to transport into or receive in the State where he resides (or if the person is a corporation or other business entity, the State where it maintains a place of business) any firearm purchased or otherwise obtained by such person outside that State, except that this paragraph (A) shall not preclude any person who lawfully acquires a firearm by bequest or intestate succession in a State other than his State of residence from transporting the firearm into or receiving it in that State, if it is lawful for such person to purchase or possess such firearm in that State

So, to be 100% federally legal, if the handgun is "bequeathed" through a written will, all that's needed is a copy of the “Bequeathment Page” and a copy of of the benifactor's death certificate. Obviously, It would be prudent to always keep these documents with your gun records.

 

[Jack Flash]

The house was condemned. No electricity, no water; probably a dump. The people who were killed may reasonably thought the house was empty. They may have been homeless people looking for a place to sleep. Burglary is not a capital offence. I think the prosecutor should have gone for voluntary manslaughter. This is not a good example of a just use of a firearm (imho). (I seem to be in a minority of one here, but this is how I see it.)

From one of the referenced articles:
"Police said they found items belonging to Stolarczyk at Nicolas Talerico's home, indicating he may have burglarized his home before, WCSI reported."

From this we can infer that at least one of the burglars (Nicolas Talerico) was not homeless. If the burglars had been in Stolarczyk's home before, it seems reasonable that they should have known someone was living there, but I suppose it is possible that they didn't. At a minimum, they should know it isn't their house.

We don't know what happened when Stolarczyk confronted the two burglars. Apparently the police concluded there was no evidence sufficient to charge the man with manslaughter. They know the number and placement of the gun shot wounds on the deceased, as well as any other evidence. I don't think we should second-guess them.

A lot of knowledge by members here regarding NY handgun laws, which sheds light on the charges that were dropped. Per the article, the handgun belonged to the father who lived in the house with his wife and son.

When the father and mother died, the handgun remained in the house. It's possible that the son's lawyer argued that the since the son didn't buy the gun or bring it to the house, he never really had anything to do with it until he was confronted by two burglars in his home. My guess is that the local prosecutor thought that it would not be in the interest of Justice to pursue this any further.

 

[Wise_A]

That would satisfy the federal requirement, but here in NY, each handgun is listed on your permit. Now--and bear in mind this is how it is in my county, at least--all that's needed to do a transfer to an immediate family member is a notarized one-page form to be mailed in to the sheriff's office, with a $3 check and a self-addressed stamped envelope for your amendment to your permit.

Transferring from a deceased family member might be a little more tricky. IIRC, this guy's county actually had a page on the sheriff's website on how to do it--very simple if the handgun was specifically bequeathed. The process I described is literally worst-case, a handgun that could be completely unregistered. It could be just as simple, with a simple form, perhaps without even the notary.

Whichever way that particular county swings in the specific process, I'd be surprised if the sheriff's department was anything but extremely helpful, and most gun shops are knowledgeable and helpful.

But the takeaway is that unlike many states, a lot of the exact procedures vary county-to-county. Even what's allowable can vary. Just a few years ago, our local Republican Party wrangled to get their guy elected sheriff by promising that the judge would start signing carry permits, and that handguns could be registered jointly by spouses.

However, given that the guy maybe had a couple screws loose, plus the way our charming local news media talks about guns? Yes, I can totally see him doing what he did. Many completely healthy would do what he did. There's very little you could say that would ever make my vote to convict the guy of any kind of possession-related charge.

And of course, my usual disclaimer applies--registering guns is stupid.

 

[Wise_A]

A lot of knowledge by members here regarding NY handgun laws, which sheds light on the charges that were dropped. Per the article, the handgun belonged to the father who lived in the house with his wife and son.

When the father and mother died, the handgun remained in the house. It's possible that the son's lawyer argued that the since the son didn't buy the gun or bring it to the house, he never really had anything to do with it until he was confronted by two burglars in his home.

Not to mention, it would have been the best possible case for changing up the registration. But yes, I can totally see them charging the guy, and then talking to him and deciding it really wasn't worth it.

Side note, when our charming governor introduced the unSAFE Act requiring registration of evil assault weapons (everything from AR-15s to 10/22s with fancy stocks), he got something like single-digit compliance. Today, it's extremely uncommon to see anybody charged for an unregistered AR. Not to mention, said law is so poorly written, I can walk into maybe 75% of the gunshops in my are and buy non-complying magazines--they have a 10-round capacity, but have a 30-round magazine body that could accept a standard spring and follower without modification.

 

[fatcat3]

I see a lot of NYC or Puget sound or big cities in Texas... It's time for everyone to start pushing your state legislators to pass Fair Vote like Maine and Nebraska have. It is not a magic pill but it is a start. By the way there are some people (that should have been drowned at birth) who are trying to do a state compact so ALL of New England and more can be controlled by NYC. Forgetting, ignorant, or willfully ignoring the idea of our founding.

 

[dockmurgw]

I see a lot of NYC or Puget sound or big cities in Texas... It's time for everyone to start pushing your state legislators to pass Fair Vote like Maine and Nebraska have. It is not a magic pill but it is a start. By the way there are some people (that should have been drowned at birth) who are trying to do a state compact so ALL of New England and more can be controlled by NYC. Forgetting, ignorant, or willfully ignoring the idea of our founding.

No offense, but I just cant let this one pass without comment. Fair Vote: AKA ranked choice voting, Fair vote: National popular vote for president. These are concepts that scare me to death. I don't know of a single Mainer, and I know a lot of them, that like their new ranked choice voting...with the exception of the progressive dominated Portland area. Popular vote for president? No more electoral college? I don't want to live in a country where California and New York decide the outcome of the presidential election. What your advocating would result in the death of the ENTIRE US Constitution, not just the 2A. Scares me to death just to think of what you propose. Fair Vote supporters are the compact supporting people you say should be drowned at birth, so I'm not sure you fully understand what your proposing. Again, no offense intended, just had to say it.

FairVote - Wikipedia

 

[Ziggy2525]

No offense, but I just cant let this one pass without comment. Fair Vote: AKA ranked choice voting, Fair vote: National popular vote for president. These are concepts that scare me to death. I don't know of a single Mainer, and I know a lot of them, that like their new ranked choice voting...with the exception of the progressive dominated Portland area. Popular vote for president? No more electoral college? I don't want to live in a country where California and New York decide the outcome of the presidential election. What your advocating would result in the death of the ENTIRE US Constitution, not just the 2A. Scares me to death just to think of what you propose. Fair Vote supporters are the compact supporting people you say should be drowned at birth, so I'm not sure you fully understand what your proposing. Again, no offense intended, just had to say it.

FairVote - Wikipedia

Not sure about “Fair Vote,” but fatcat’s reference to Maine and Nebraska make me think he’s talking about something else. Every state except Maine and Nebraska has winner take all Electoral College votes. In Maine and Nebraska, Electoral College votes are assigned by congressional districts with the two senate votes going to the state winner.

In Nebraska, it limits the ability of liberal leaning cities like Omaha and Lincoln from negating the vote of rural areas of the state. Probably works the same in Maine.

 

[dockmurgw]

Not sure about “Fair Vote,” but fatcat’s reference to Maine and Nebraska make me think he’s talking about something else. Every state except Maine and Nebraska has winner take all Electoral College votes. In Maine and Nebraska, Electoral College votes are assigned by congressional districts with the two senate votes going to the state winner.

In Nebraska, it limits the ability of liberal leaning cities like Omaha and Lincoln from negating the vote of rural areas of the state. Probably works the same in Maine.

What Maine has is called IRV, or instant runoff voting. Fair Vote is not a voting system, its an organization that promotes the concept of IRV and popular vote for presidential elections...no electoral college. Maine, and I assume Nebraska, has nothing closely related to electoral college voting for senators as you suggest, IRV is not an electoral college system. IRV is a horrible system.

 

[Ziggy2525]

What Maine has is called IRV, or instant runoff voting. Fair Vote is not a voting system, its an organization that promotes the concept of IRV and popular vote for presidential elections...no electoral college. Maine, and I assume Nebraska, has nothing closely related to electoral college voting for senators as you suggest, IRV is not an electoral college system. IRV is a horrible system.

Probably didn’t explain it clearly. Going from memory, but I think this is close.

Like every other state, in Nebraska we get one electoral college vote for each congressional representative and one for each senator. We have three congressional representatives, so we get five electoral college votes.

In the election, we vote for electoral college voters. In Nebraska, the winning electoral college voters that are associated with senators (state wide) are required to vote for the presidential candidate that wins the state.

The winning electoral college voters that are associated with a congressional district are required to vote for the presidential candidate that wins their associated congressional district. My understanding is Maine uses the same system to allocate electoral college votes. Pretty sure that’s what fatcat3 is talking about.

All other states have a winner takes all electoral college vote where all electoral college votes are assigned to the state winner. The complaint with that system is in places like New York, the vote in New York City is so large it negates the presidential voting results in upstate congressional districts.

 

[sotexas]

No offense, but I just cant let this one pass without comment. Fair Vote: AKA ranked choice voting, Fair vote: National popular vote for president. These are concepts that scare me to death. I don't know of a single Mainer, and I know a lot of them, that like their new ranked choice voting...with the exception of the progressive dominated Portland area. Popular vote for president? No more electoral college? I don't want to live in a country where California and New York decide the outcome of the presidential election. What your advocating would result in the death of the ENTIRE US Constitution, not just the 2A. Scares me to death just to think of what you propose. Fair Vote supporters are the compact supporting people you say should be drowned at birth, so I'm not sure you fully understand what your proposing. Again, no offense intended, just had to say it.

FairVote - Wikipedia

The only thing I can say about the popular vote is an individuals vote counts. I am not a constitutional authority nor have I ever met one (high percentage of people haven't either) but I do believe in an adapting society. BTW just to help me with a better understanding of the constitution where can I find your works on the constitution.