Good read.
Open carry common in NV.
I open carry in my condo’s yard, and when I had my business and went into the nearby woods, I’d open carry my Kimber 1911 .45 ACP, and the Alexander Arms AR.50cal ‘Beowulf’.
Gee, the Second Amendment actually means something in Florida!
Old joke: Be sure you know who’s coming into your yard before you shoot them.”
May cause some criminals to think twice.
That used to be what the laws were for-—until criminals said as one foreigner here on a fictional show said “America does everything possible to favor the criminal. It all goes our way to keep us out of prison. I love America for that.”
Interesting here in PA we are an open carry state. I would have thot FLA was as well. How do farmers shoot varmints on their property there? Like gators and pythons.
Who is going to pay all his legal fees?
Seems reasonable to make the arresting officers, the DA staff, and the original judge and all their relatives pay quadruple penalty...
Every firearm owner should know their particular state and local laws with regards to self defense, used of deadly force, brandishing, etc. I applaud the firearm owner and their attorney for the way the information was presented and summarized by the court.
The tree service people should have all been charged with a variety of crimes.
Some of the lessons;
Brandishing a firearm is often a crime, which involves displaying a firearm for the purpose of intimidating another. He didn't point his weapon at anyone, didn't yell or threaten anyone. Note the later language which says a brief display of a firearm is OK "....so long as the firearm is not being "intentionally displayed in an angry or threatening manner" when the display of the firearm is "not in necessary self-defense."....."
Self-defense usually requires an immediate and urgent fear for one's life or the great bodily harm or the defender or someone else.
After asking the tree cutting service to leave, they became trespassers and he had a "non-deadly force right to urge them to leave." Self defense is often voided if the person claiming the right to self defense is the first person to escalate things and bring or threaten to use deadly force. Yes, the chainsaw might have been considered a deadly force weapon the way it was used, but the remained calm.
Then again, the "reasonable man" rule comes into play where the court said a reasonable man would have anticipated he might have to use deadly force to defend himself in getting the trespassers to leave.
[T]he trial court denied Burns' motion on grounds that his "menacing" act of chambering a round in the firearm, coupled with the display of the weapon without pointing it at anyone, constituted an unjustified threatened use of deadly force. The trial court determined that, because Burns was not in reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm at the time of the incident, his actions were not justified under the circumstances. We disagree….
The display of a firearm constitutes non-deadly force as a matter of law. See, e.g., Cunningham v. State (Fla. Ct. App. 2015) (recognizing that "the mere display of a gun is not deadly force as a matter of law"); see also Howard v. State (Fla. Ct. App. 1997) ("[E]ven the display of a deadly weapon, without more, is not 'deadly force.'"). ..
it is not unlawful in Florida to "briefly and openly display" a lawfully carried firearm "to the ordinary sight of another person," so long as the firearm is not being "intentionally displayed in an angry or threatening manner" when the display of the firearm is "not in necessary self-defense."
....In addition, after Burns asked the tree-cutting crew to leave his property, and they refused to immediately do so, they became trespassers, justifying his legal right to use non-deadly force, including his constitutional and statutory right to openly carry or display his loaded firearm, to assist him in not only terminating the trespass, but also in preventing the reasonably perceived tortious and criminal interference with his dogs, which are his personal property. See § 776.031(1), Fla. Stat. (2020) (justifying the use or threatened use of non-deadly force, "when and to the extent" necessary, "to prevent or terminate" another's "trespass on, or other tortious or criminal interference with," the non-dwelling portions of one's "real" or "personal property"); see also § 810.09(1)(a)2., Fla. Stat. (2020) ("trespass on property other than a structure or conveyance" occurs when a person "willfully enters or remains in any property other than a structure or conveyance" if the property "is the unenclosed curtilage of a dwelling") (emphasis added); § 828.12(1), Fla. Stat. (2020) ("A person who … unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done … in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty, a misdemeanor of the first degree[.]"); § 828.12(2), Fla. Stat. (2020) ("A person who intentionally commits any act to any animal … which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering, or causes the same to be done, commits aggravated animal cruelty, a felony of the third degree[.]"). Furthermore, after the confrontation had ensued, it was reasonable for Burns to have anticipated the possibility that he would need to act in self-defense while verbally directing trespassers off his property.
One additional side note about trespass. Often times many, many people do have a legal right to be on someone's property through either jurisdictional or easement rights. For example, Surveyor's, Electrical Inspectors, other inspectors do have rights to go on property to check for property corners, electrical or building code violations. Similarly, Water utilities, natural gas utilities, and electric utilities usually require as a condition of providing utility services an easement so that their employees (and sometimes contractors or agents) to access the property for the purposes of reading meters, performing maintenance, and repair.