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Attorney: Queens Self-Defense Case Shows 'Draconian' Laws
Newsmax ^ | November 21, 2025 | Newsmax Wires

Posted on 11/21/2025 9:33:19 AM PST by Navy Patriot

A Queens man who shot and killed a would-be mugger more than two years ago has been sentenced to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty on Thursday to possessing an unlicensed revolver in a case his attorney said shows New York City's "draconian" gun laws.

Charles Foehner, 67, admitted guilt in one count of criminal weapons possession in a plea deal, ending his case stemming from the 2022 shooting of Cody Gonzalez near Foehner's home, reports the New York Post.

Prosecutors declined to charge the retired doorman directly in Gonzalez's death after he told police he acted in self-defense when the man ran toward him late at night, holding what appeared to be a knife but was later identified as a pen.

Foehner faced multiple counts of illegal weapons possession after police found the revolver he used in the confrontation and additional unlicensed firearms inside his home.

His attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said outside Queens Supreme Court that Foehner accepted the plea to avoid a potential 25-year sentence if convicted at trial.

Kenniff criticized New York's firearms regulations, calling them "draconian" and saying that his client had been "put in an impossible position" by laws that make it difficult for residents to obtain gun permits.

"If this was a state and a city that had its affairs in order, Mr. Foehner would be getting a plaque, not a prison sentence," he told reporters.

Surveillance footage from the incident showed Gonzalez, who had a history of arrests and mental illness, continuing to charge at Foehner even after the older man drew his revolver.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: banglist; newyork
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1 posted on 11/21/2025 9:33:19 AM PST by Navy Patriot
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To: Navy Patriot

Prosecutors desperate for a conviction, any conviction. And notice it was a plea deal, indicating yet again a prosecutor terrified of actually fighting a case in court.


2 posted on 11/21/2025 9:37:55 AM PST by DPMD (u)
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To: Navy Patriot

I wonder where the attacker learned to use a pen as a knife./


3 posted on 11/21/2025 9:48:34 AM PST by Cold Heart
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To: Cold Heart

Well, it is common knowledge that a pen is mightier than a sword.


4 posted on 11/21/2025 9:52:52 AM PST by gitmo (If your theology doesn’t become your biography, what good is it?)
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To: Navy Patriot

If it had been Mikey Bloomberg he would have walked.


5 posted on 11/21/2025 9:53:37 AM PST by dljordan (The Rewards of Tolerance are Treachery and Betrayal)
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To: DPMD; Navy Patriot
Surveillance footage from the incident showed Gonzalez, who had a history of arrests and mental illness, continuing to charge at Foehner even after the older man drew his revolver.

Foehner didn't realize that the prosecutors and judge were part of Gonzalez's gang, and he should have dealt with them in a similar manner...

6 posted on 11/21/2025 10:00:30 AM PST by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: Cold Heart
I wonder where the attacker learned to use a pen as a knife.

New York City supplied that training on his previous stints in Jail.

7 posted on 11/21/2025 10:12:51 AM PST by Navy Patriot (President Trump Decisively Won, Celebrate Recivilization!)
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To: Navy Patriot

I fled deep blue Ct after the draconian Sandy Hook gun control laws were jammed through, with Republican help, that made self defense illegal. Even if you faced imminent grave bodily injury or death, a prosecutor could find grounds to persecute the gun owner.


8 posted on 11/21/2025 10:59:38 AM PST by DeplorablePaul
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