AK: Tourist kills man who pointed gun at trooper
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft
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"A man was shot to death ... on Tuesday after pointing a long gun at an Alaska state trooper, officials said Thursday."

"The man was shot by an out-of-state fisherman who had called for trooper assistance because, he said, the man who was killed had earlier been shooting at him and a fishing partner. ..." ...

"Troopers also didn't say whether the fisherman, a 42-year-old tourist from Arizona, would be charged in the shooting."

"A law passed recently by the Alaska Legislature allows a person to use deadly force in self defense outside the home, but the law doesn't go into effect until mid-September."

"'There will certainly be an investigation into whether it was defense of self and defense of a trooper,' Anderson said."

After reading the post, I now "then" understand it more "than" the thread.

From what I heard on the radio, the guy who was shot had been living in the woods for a few months and was "antisocial" (minor understatement) also I believe had a long rap record.

Sounds like a classic case of D.S.A.F. to me.

Did Society A Favor that is.

I am not sure that these interpretations match what happened. Will know more after talking with friends who live in the area. First, I am not sure that the guy had a long rap sheet or that he had pointed a gun at the trooper. The news articles stated that the tourist said that he perceived that the guy was making a motion as though he was reaching for his rifle. What does that mean? If the guy was making a threatening move, why wasn't the trooper the shooter? What is known is that the trooper was unaware that the tourist had a weapon. I'm sure that I were carrying concealed under these circumstances I would make darned sure that the trooper knew that.

The operative word in "concealed carry" is CONCEALED.

You don't lie about it if asked, but you don't volunteer the information either.

I doubt it would happen in alaska, but the officer could have asked him to unload his
handgun or taken it and then they'd potentially be dead.

it's better to be tried by twelve than carried by six.

Or as someone else phrased it... It's better to "Bear the mark of Cain than the mark of Able"

AllanD

IN Alaska, if stopped by an officer you must tell the officer you are armed. Jim

Now! The head kangaroo is here, we can start the kangaroo court!

Nobody here knows what happened up there, but if the fisherman who shot the guy called the troopers, it stands to reason, he was worried about the guy who was killed. This shouldn't be a hard case to solve, since the trooper was there to witness the affaire!

Alaska law says if you are STOPPED by the trooper you must tell him you are armed, according to Jim. The shooter was not stopped by the trooper, but was called by the shooter, for help, with the victim. Still I'd have told him I was armed. It is most likely the shooter was armed in plain sight, because he was fishing. Most folks in Alaska are carrying a pistol on their belt when not in town, quite legally!

It will be interesting to hear how this turns out, and what the real facts are!!

Seeing someone with a pistol on their belt is not common in the bush whether the person is a tourist or a local. I have actually seen very few locals carrying pistols (but if the Russian river is designed as "bush", maybe that is the case. Don't know since I don't do combat fishing.) Also, the trooper stated that he was unaware that the tourist was armed.

quote:

Originally posted by daryldouthat:
Seeing someone with a pistol on their belt is not common in the bush whether the person is a tourist or a local. I have actually seen very few locals carrying pistols (but if the Russian river is designed as "bush", maybe that is the case. Don't know, since I don't do a lot of COMBAT fishing.) Also, the trooper stated that he was unaware that the tourist was armed.

I've hunted Alaska every year,for 25 years, and it is true I fly out of very small villages on Bush planes,but every village I've been in,that are fly in places, one sees pistols on every hip! Villages like Illiamna, for instance, every kid older than 15 yrs old is on a fourwheeler, and carrying a Ruger Black Hawk 44 mag pistol. Even women carry there. However, there are lots of Brown bear in that area, and for 50 miles inland around the Mulchatna River, and Lake clark,lake Illiamna, and Katmai park. It pays to be armed when fishing in the Mulchatna drainage! Your fishing may become COMBAT FISHING, as you call it, in a hurry! Tim Tredwell screwed the bears up in that area with his antics, and many are quite agressive! The little town of TALKEETNA, and Trapper's Creek, up around Danali Park, is the same, with folks carrying on the creeks, and rivers while fishing. I'm not aware of folks in Anchorage carrying, or Soldatna/Kenai, or Fairbanks, however, and I have never fished the Russian, and don't do much fishing in any town!

The use of deadly force to protect yourself or someone else against serious bodily injury or death is a GIVEN, they don't have to enact it. No jury in this country would convict and I can't believe a prosecutor would ever bring charges against someone for doing just this especially if there are creditable witnesses.
They will need to review the case to ensure they aren't getting a dog and pony show.
Law enforcement is empowered to use deadly force under the above definition and the only diffeence between them and Joe citizen is civil suits and wrongful death suits that may follow, the law enforcement would be covered by theit employing agency, Joe public woud need to hire their own attorney.

I donot know the concealed carry law in Alaska but carrying a firearm in plain view as long as it complies with the law, In Illinois there is no Concealed carry, a bunch of individuals where carrying semi auto pistols with the slide locked back in a fanny pack with loaded magazines inside the fanny pack. The local where arresting these people but they where not breaking the law since the law states it must be unloaded and enclosed completely by a (undefined) case. The cases never went to trial since they did not want the publicity but in either case you will lose alot of time getting bailed out and fighting it in court or pre court non sense. To my knowledge there are somewhere between 44 and 48 states that have concealed carry.
The police have the right to do a protective "PAT DOWN" to determine if you are armed and if the CC law states you must announce that you are armed and you did not would make you in violation so don't tell may not be the right choice. In eithe case if you are involved in a shooting it would be wise to keep your mouth shut and get an attorney to do your talking, words are like bullets, the damage is done immediately and you can retract either.