# Rittenhouse and the guy who shot my Red Fox **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672 "2021-11-20T14:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/123 "2021-11-23T13:44:50Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > But why carry around a rifle with no ammo and outside of hunting season. Making sure that where ever he set up he’d be able to manipulate the rifle to aim? Just spitballing. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/124 "2021-11-23T14:02:26Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Making sure that where ever he set up he’d be able to manipulate the rifle to aim? And going to his blind to lay down some corn. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/125 "2021-11-23T14:04:48Z")
Practice makes sense, but you don’t need the rifle. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/126 "2021-11-23T14:10:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a random citizen open carry. I’m in Virginia, an open carry state. I’ve seen it many times back when I was in retail, even though the store had some sort of sign posted and was private property. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/127 "2021-11-23T14:30:57Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I’m in Virginia, an open carry state. I’ve seen it many times back when I was in retail, even though the store had some sort of sign posted and was private property. A few years ago, I found myself on an Open Carry message board for Wisconsin. There was an entire group of people that would look for places that didn’t allow firearms and act like a bunch of toddlers. It’s one thing when they would write letters and facebook posts to the store telling them that they’ll no longer be shopping there since they don’t feel safe. But they’d also go to these stores and if the “no weapons allowed” signs weren’t 100% up to the specs required by the state, they’d ignore them. That is, they’d measure the signs, if it was a half inch too small or the font was wrong, they’d walk in with their gun. If the state says the signs have to be posted on all entrances and they missed one, even a back door, they’d walk in their their gun. And they’d make a show about it, often recorded with a body cam. Reminds me of a guy that used to shop at our store. He’d open carry and his t-shirt had a URL on it for a 2A website. And, now that I think about it, that’s probably how I found myself on that message board. I was talking to someone about this who reiterated my feelings. That is, I don’t care if you want to open carry, but you don’t have to be an asshole about it. If you’re going out of your way to call attention to it, you’re not doing it because you don’t feel safe, you’re doing it make a scene. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/128 "2021-11-23T15:01:03Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Why would he carry his gun then? One terrible habit a lot of hunters I know get into its using their rifle as a spotting scope. I guess leaving the ammo at home makes this practice safer but I still don’t like looking down the rifle scope looking for things to shoot eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/129 "2021-11-23T16:05:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It’s a thing. I asked people I know who hunt and they do it too. He was wearing his hunting clothes, acting like he was really hunting, but no license and no ammunition. My theory… He had planned to hunt that day. He got his gun, got his clothes, and was all ready to do it. He gets to a good spot and goes to load his gun, and dang it… Forgot his ammo. Checked his pockets. No license and no wallet either. How could this day get any worse? Oh no, here is a police officer! Took his gun and had to go down to the station. Worst day EVER. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/130 "2021-11-23T16:09:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Checked his pockets. No license and no wallet either. How could this day get any worse? It could be raining. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/131 "2021-11-23T16:17:06Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > How could this day get any worse? It could have all happened before the [police chief was arrested](https://archive.triblive.com/news/apollo-police-chief-hit-with-4-felonies/) for selling guns the department had confiscated! (He would have likely never gotten his gun back) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/132 "2021-11-23T18:34:11Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > He had planned to hunt that day. It wasn’t hunting season, so unless he was planning on poaching I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/133 "2021-11-23T19:24:43Z")
You’ve never heard of a gun buyback program ? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/134 "2021-11-23T19:44:03Z")
I’m going to be quite honest here, the tone of the OP’s post leads me to believe there is a significant percentage chance that when he called in, he gave the impression he was a mentally unwell person and was speaking incoherently. Subsequent things he has said in this thread make me think if he hasn’t recently been seen by a physician, he should schedule an appointment and ask for a basic cognitive exam. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/135 "2021-11-23T20:00:28Z")
Dispatcher’s mental note: we’ve got ourselves a SovCit ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/136 "2021-11-23T23:59:12Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That’s fair, but startled does not equal threatened. Slight change of pace here. I’ve read a number of your posts and I believe that I have the right to disagree with you. IMHO… if some stranger stood in your driveway holding a rifle… I not only think that you would feel threatened. I think that you’d shoot them dead. Now, other posters may feel that I am wrong in that A to B to C assumption… but I think that others might think that I am right. Of Course, I would automatically be proven wrong if you stated for the record that you run a completely and totally gun free household… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/137 "2021-11-24T00:06:31Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Rather than a ‘no trespassing’ or ‘don’t shoot my fox sign’ I could post one that says: > > _ **It is my well reasoned and prudent belief that any open carry firearm presents a threat to me of serious personal injury or death. I will act in self defense with requisite force against any person openly carrying a weapon on, or within line of sight of, my property.** _ “Second degree murder? All my murders are premeditated.” ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/138 "2021-11-24T00:23:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > All my murders are premeditated Not so, my self defense is pre-meditated ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/139 "2021-11-24T02:36:52Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I not only think that you would feel threatened. I think that you’d shoot them dead. Unless that person made an overt threatening act, you’d be in the wrong legally. If your state allows open carry, that can’t be an overt threatening act. Even if your state doesn’t allow open carry, you’d have a hard time convincing a jury that the presence of a gun in and of itself is an actionable threat. You may feel otherwise, that’s why we have juries. But the law is pretty clear on when you can respond with deadly force, and this ain’t it. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/140 "2021-11-24T03:01:40Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Even if your state doesn’t allow open carry, you’d have a hard time convincing a jury that the presence of a gun in and of itself is an actionable threat. > > You may feel otherwise, that’s why we have juries. But the law is pretty clear on when you can respond with deadly force, and this ain’t it. Sir… you write like a well-trained attorney. I hope that the very next time that I find myself in trouble that I can hire you. Also FWIW… I hope that neither of us ever find some stranger with a rifle in our driveways. (Happy Thanksgiving) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/141 "2021-11-24T03:08:12Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I hope that neither of us ever find some stranger with a rifle in our driveways. Used to happen around here with some frequency, and still does sometimes. Out-of-town deer hunters. The polite ones ask permission, and go away without arguing when it’s refused. The rude ones ignore the signs and don’t bother asking, and/or argue about it. I haven’t shot any of them. Neither has the group who I give permission to hunt, and also both permission and instructions to chase anybody else off. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672/142 "2021-11-24T03:14:51Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > I hope that neither of us ever find some stranger with a rifle in our driveways. Not my driveway, since I don’t live in an area where hunting is allowed. But at friends’ houses up in NH and VT I’ve seen it lots of times. It’s typically hunters asking about permission to hunt on their land, or asking for access to haul out a deer or moose. Or in rural areas some people just routinely carry. Actually, when I lived in southern NH for a few years we had bird and deer hunters in the fields across the street pretty frequently. At least one stopped by the house because his car died and needed a jump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rittenhouse-and-the-guy-who-shot-my-red-fox/954672.md?page=8)