Man facing foreclosure brings gun to court, sheriff says

[sabra]

Source: Chicago Sun Times

A railroad engineer and Army veteran who was about to be evicted from his home brought a loaded handgun in his briefcase to a Monday foreclosure hearing, authorities said.

Thomas Pridgeon, 48, of the 7300 block of South Laflin, was given $100,000 bail Tuesday after he was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart's office said.

Pridgeon, an engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad, has faced the prospect of losing his home since 2009, when BNY Mellon filed a foreclosure action in Cook County Circuit Court. Monday’s hearing was to approve transfer of the property to a private lender in North Carolina, which had bid on it at a tax sale, officials said.

With bank attorneys set to petition for transfer of ownership, Pridgeon would have 30 days to get out of the home and relinquish control.

...

The .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun was loaded with one bullet in the chamber and seven more in the clip. When asked about the weapon, Pridgeon claimed he forgot it was in there, officials said. He was arrested and the sheriff’s Criminal Intelligence Unit is investigating.

Pridgeon was in the Army from 1984 until 1990, his lawyer said.

Read more: http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/2631632,foreclosure-court-gun-082410.article

[rfranklin]

1. Shouldn't this be in the Gun Forum?

Another responsible gun owner..."I forgot!"

(with apologies to Steve Martin.)

[Recursion]

3. I don't think this really gets to gun policy in any way

Since nobody is saying people should be allowed to take guns into courtrooms.

This is more of a "look how close a lot of people are to the breaking point in this economy" thread.

[Lautremont]

11. Name a place and you can find people arguing that guns should be allowed there.

Parks, arts festivals, schools, courtrooms, wherever.

[slackmaster]

16. OK, you're on.

Who is arguing that guns should be allowed in courthouses?

[Lautremont]

17. Mickey.

Comment number 8:

http://www.ammoland.com/2010/05/03/open-letter-to-ted-nugent/

[slackmaster]

21. You obviously mis-read Mickey's comment

It was a response to Paladin's comment above.

"If you had ever been the victim of a felonious assault, and been dragged into courtroom also occupied by the still armed felon who attacked you, you’d think differently about the joys of being disarmed in the presence of ‘armed LE’."

Italics added to emphasize the hypothetical nature of the question to which Mickey was responding.

FAIL!

[Lautremont]

24. Uh, no I didn't.

He doesn't want to be disarmed when he goes into a courtroom. He says it plain as day.

Double fail on you.

[slackmaster]

25. That applied only to a courtroom in which a person who had assaulted him was present

AND armed.

Read it again.

If courts allowed criminal defendants to show up in court armed, I'd sure as fuck want to carry a weapon if I had to go to court too. But the situation is hypothetical, and nobody is suggesting allowing people to carry weapons to court.

[Lautremont]

27. I don't think that's hypothetical.

And Paladin appears to agree. I think ol' Mickey is paranoid enough to believe he needs a gun to defend himself in case the "gang banger" he's facing down has managed to smuggle in one of his own.

Further to guns in court: here's a very understated website calling for lawyers to be allowed to carry in court: http://rexcurry.net/snts.html

It also appears some good folks in Jefferson County, PA, would like to have their guns in court: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_206171.html

So, to answer your question, lots of people want guns in courtrooms.

[slackmaster]

29. I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with your intrepretation of that discussion

Have a great evening.

[Lautremont]

30. Have at it.

A good evening to you too, and to all those in Pennsylvania who would like to allow guns in court.

[one-eyed fat man]

43. As you mention it

I don't know any of our circuit court judges that doesn't have a gun behind the bench in the courthouse NOW. In fact, judges rate special permission to carry weapons under state law here.

http://kentuckystatepolice.org/pdf/judicialssccdw.pdf

[PavePusher]

39. Why should non-criminal, non-defendant Citizens...

be disarmed in Courts?

Demonstrate why Civil Rights should be constrained without due process.

[Lautremont]

45. Have you ever been in a courtroom?

Do you know what sorts of things go on in there? Property is taken away, children are appointed to one parent or another, fines are levied, decisions of incredible importance to the people they affect are made all the time, every day, and emotions run very, very high. And I'm talking about courtrooms without a single criminal in the place. My fuck, I wouldn't want guns on the set of Judge Judy, and you think they should be allowed in real courtrooms?

And Slackmaster, here's another one who wants guns in court.

[PavePusher]

47. Firstly, I did not say I wanted guns in Courts.

I asked why they shouldn't be, i.e. the burden of proof is on the people who want the ban, to prove it would be grossly and overwhelmingly detrimental. So far I haven't seen that, just a bunch of "sky would fall" what-ifs. That's not proof.

Secondly, (and to be fair, I wasn't very precise or clear on this) plaintifs and defendants probably should not be armed in Courts, but I think it should be up to the judge and depending on the circumstances of the case.

Small claims cases? Who cares...

Murder charges? Well, let's let "common sense" prevail, eh?

[jeepnstein]

54. It's simple, really.

When you step into the Court Room you are entering the realm of the state's power. This includes any number of armed personnel who are charged with the safe and orderly conduct of business before the judge. When you step into the Court Room you are in a position of submission to the state's authority and judgment. Going to court is all about playing by their rules and trusting in a fair resolution to your conflict. If you don't like it, don't go in willingly.

I've been armed in quite a few court rooms. It's a serious business. And it's one of the few times one can expect the state to take extraordinary steps to protect you individually.

Of course, Sid Hatfield trusted the system and we know what that got him. But then again, he never made it through the door of the courthouse. I suspect that was the plan from the beginning.

[Bold Lib]

58. Sid Hatfield? Was he the pro union sheriff that was shot by the union busters?

IIRC he was shot by a gang as he was approaching the court house where he was supposed to be testifying in a trial.

[jeepnstein]

59. Yep.

Because of the location of the courthouse, he had to arrive unarmed. They knew it, too. It was a straight-up assassination. Shot by company men who never faced justice.

[Euromutt]

62. There's also the factor of detainees

There's one thing places like courthouses, police stations, county jails and state and federal penal facilities have in common, which is that all may house detainees, some of whom might like to get their hands on a firearm in order to effect an escape. And it's hard to tell whether a citizen, even one without a criminal history, might be trying to bring a weapon into such a place in order to deliver it to a detainee for that purpose until it's too late.

[Lightning Count]

23. People say Obama is a muslim too.

What's your point? That somebody somewhere has a wacky opinion?

[Lautremont]

32. My point is that any place you can think of, there is someone to argue a gun should be allowed there

And the point was proved.

[Lightning Count]

34. That argument can probably be used to prove just about anything.

One anonymous poster on the interwebs vague post is not proof this is a prevalent or even sizable minorities position. Your point is pointless. :)

[Lautremont]

35. I don't know about that:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_206171.html

You can say, well, this is just one county, this is from six years ago, but I didn't have to go more than three items down a Google search to find it, and there were plenty of pages to go. So I'd bet there's lots more of them.

Anyway, I'm not claiming to have made any point other than the one I made, you challenged, I proved and then you declared "pointless." What's your own position? If it was "most responsible gun owners would not approve of allowing guns in courtrooms," I would agree with you. But that's so broad as to itself be pointless.

[SteveM]

65. Have to go with Lightning Count on this; your point is diminished.

[Remmah2]

57. Shouldn't this be in the Civil Liberties forum?

Second Amendment is still a civil right last time I read.

[slackmaster]

2. Unrec for sensationalistic subject line

He didn't bring the weapon to his foreclosure hearing, because he never made it to the hearing.

If he'd missed it for some other reason, the headline would be "African-American Veteran is Latest Victim of Foreclosure Crisis".

If the hearing had been for something other than a foreclosure, we probably wouldn't have heard about it at all.

[Lautremont]

12. But the subject line is the actual headline.

And the headline is merely quoting the authorities, or so it says. Anyway, he brought it to the courthouse, and that's close enough.

[slackmaster]

13. Yes, and it's a requirement of LBN to quote things verbatim even when they're misleading

My ire is directed at the so-called journalists who wrote the piece, not at the DUer who posted it.

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. "unlawful use of a weapon" Wait a minute. He never got a chance....

to use it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Unlawful use of a weapon?

It doesn't sound like he used any weapon.

However, just wandering around with a gun in a briefcase is probably a big offense, especially in Cook County.

Not too bright.

:hi:

[Kolesar]

8. Even for Frank Nitti...eom

[Lightning Count]

6. Tax sale?

Not good.

[KansDem]

7. This may have been a mistake.

But with the economy going the way it is and attempts to "tweak" Social Security, I wonder if we are going to see more incidents that aren't...

[DeSwiss]

9. K&R

"Wha? Oh that. Well I always keep my .45 in my briefcase because I found that it's really good at removing staples. You know, the bendy kind. And it makes a good paperweight when you wanna keep things from blowing away in the wind, and from concussions.


- "Whaddaya mean 2nd Amendment solutions? The thought never entered my mind....."

[rrneck]

10. Cook County's been a litle touchy ever since

these guys dropped in to pay their property taxes.



There were on a mission from God, so maybe this should be in R/T.

[valerief]

14. Guns, guns, guns. Guns belong everywhere. In the office, in the supermarket,

especially in bars, in houses of worship, in nurseries, in schools, in hospitals, in courts, in Congress, in the air, in the ground, in my ear, up my butt, everywhere.

Guns, guns, guns. There's nothing better in the world. Many people feel that way. The world is insane, after all.

:crazy:

[slackmaster]

15. Who has actually suggested allowing guns into courthouses?

Seriously, who?

[Lautremont]

18. Mickey did, like I said.

[slackmaster]

22. No, "Mickey" most certainly did not

Reading comprehension FAIL.

[onehandle]

36. Republicans.

Perry: Concealed guns should be allowed everywhere

AUSTIN – Texans who have concealed-weapon permits should be allowed to carry their guns anywhere in the state, including churches, courthouses and bars, Gov. Rick Perry said Monday.

Currently, state law prohibits concealed weapons in certain places, including private property where signs are posted disallowing the guns.

But after meetings with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt about the rampage at Virginia Tech, Mr. Perry took issue with the idea of barring weapons from campuses.

"It's time for us to have that debate in Texas from the standpoint of whether or not a law-abiding citizen in the state of Texas can take their appropriately licensed and permitted weapon anywhere in this state, whether it's on a college campus or wherever," Mr. Perry said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-guns_01tex.ART.State.Edition1.42d4f20.html

[TheCowsCameHome]

38. No fair. He's an asshole. Name another.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[slackmaster]

41. Goalpost move

The subject was "guns everywhere", not "guns legally carried concealed everywhere by people with permits to do so".

There are already some people who are allowed to carry guns in courthouses. They are licensed to do that.

[onehandle]

42. Nitpicking Republican reality.

Only in the gungeon.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slackmaster]

55. That doesn't even make grammatical sense

Only on DU.

[SteveM]

66. 5CR/D3R?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[valerief]

20. I am? Well, then I need two guns. One to defend myself against the other one. nt

[cowman]

26. That proves my post

you don't make any sense

[valerief]

28. Who needs sense when you need protection? Guns, guns, everywhere.

Church, school, hospitals, everywhere. Guns, guns, guns. They make America create. Jobs don't, because we don't have jobs, but dammit, we've got guns!
:rofl:

[tourivers83]

46. When things go bump in the night.

Maybe not guns everywhere but this is a big house in the woods and everyone in the area knows only two girls live here. And although we don’t advertise it a lot of people suspect we are gay. All this in some people’s eyes makes us targets. We sleep with a loaded .38 special revolver on the bedside table. And two ferocious Pomeranians plus a Poodle.

[rrneck]

48. Be careful

with those Pomeranians, they can tear your leg off.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[tourivers83]

49. Clinically Depressed Poodle Mauls French President Chirac,

Thank you so much but it’s that little black poodle that could take an arm and a leg. :rofl: :hi:

[Euromutt]

51. Good on the poodle!

I wouldn't mind giving that asshole Chirac a severe mauling myself.

[Euromutt]

50. Sheez, try switching to decaf for a while

Or lay off the amphetamines. You might actually find you're capable of making a coherent point.

[SteveM]

67. You like culture war, I see. And you like losing. Again. nt

[PavePusher]

40. Well, except for the "up your butt" portion...

please prove that they shouldn't be.

Why should we restrict the Civil Rights of non-criminal Citizens?

[DonP]

56. "Up your butt" was the idea of a big city Democrat Mayor

In case anyone forgot ... Daley, at a gun buy back, suggested that a reporter who asked him how effective the buy backs were considering the rime rate in Chicago, should have a gun shoved up his butt and fired to prove how effective it was.

So the "Up your butt" is a valid POV.

I'm sure all of us are "Proud" of Daley as a Dem.

[Katya Mullethov]

60. It had a bayonet fixed

That was quite memorable .

[spin]

64. Firearms are present in many of the places you mention ...

For example, the last time I appeared as a witness in court, there were four armed police officers in the room. The judge may have also been carrying a firearm. The number of police officers was a coincidence but usually there is an armed bailiff.

Bailiff Kills Armed Suspect Inside Florida Courthouse
Wednesday, May 07, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A man who was supposed to be returning divorce papers at a courthouse pulled out a gun there instead Wednesday, opening fire in the lobby before two bailiffs fatally shot him.

Several people were in the lobby at the time, but only one of the bailiffs, who was shot in the shoulder, was injured. He was treated and released from a hospital.

Glen Lee Powell, 30, entered the courthouse shortly after 1 p.m. and approached a security checkpoint wearing a backpack. A deputy ordered him to remove the backpack and place it on a conveyor belt, but instead he threw it on the ground and opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun, Pinellas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said.

Deputies B.J. Lyons and Deputy Marvin Glover returned fire, seriously wounding Powell, who later died at a St. Petersburg hospital. Lyons, a 58-year-old firearms instructor, was wounded.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354452,00.html

I don't attend church, but the last time I was in one for a wedding of a local police officer, I was carrying concealed as was my son in law and daughter and there were two other armed police officers at the ceremony.

The high school my grandsons attends has an armed police resource officer. Congress has an armed police presence. Some pilots are authorized to carry firearms in the cockpit and some fights have armed Federal Air Marshals.

If you want to stick a gun in your ear or up your butt, my advice would to triple check the weapon to see that it's unloaded.

edited because I accidentally hit the post button rather than the preview button.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TheCowsCameHome]

33. Shouldn't this be in the Gun Forum?

Well, look at that.............it is.

[valerief]

37. What more fun than a barrel of guns? Two barrels of guns!!!

:rofl:

[Callisto32]

52. First, they ignore you.....

[jazzhound]

61. Good thing at least one person finds you humor

to be humourous.

[spin]

63. Give me just one barrel of guns ...

and I'll take it to the range and have a ball shooting the guns at paper targets. Two barrels would indeed double my fun.

[Endangered Specie]

44. They told him it was going to be a FIRE sale...

misunderstanding ensues.