Concealed Carry or not? And other legal questions

[Southern_guy]

1. If one was carrying a pistol in an object such as a duffel bag, backpack, or briefcase on their person, would they require an Concealed Carry Permit to do so?

2. Let's say you keep a sidearm in your glovebox, and your teenage son or daughter is driving the family vehicle that day. They are attacked while in town, and defend themselves successfully with the handgun. Or maybe they are alone at home when a burglary occurs, and the same thing occurs. Would there be legal difficulties to a minor having done so?

3. A firearm accident occurs, and someone is wounded or killed. Is the person who caused the accident liable for manslaughter charges?

4. In the course of a defensive shooting, a round from your firearm either misses or overpenetrates the adversary and hits an innocent bystander. Legal penalties?

[KyJim]

I will only observe that a lot depends upon the state in which you live, maybe even the city/county/parish. Also, a lot of variables in each question presented. You might get a better response by asking a single question, letting the thread run, and then asking the next.

[maestro pistolero]

1. If one was carrying a pistol in an object such as a duffel bag, backpack, or briefcase on their person, would they require an Concealed Carry Permit to do so?

In most states, it would need to be unloaded and locked in a container without a CCW. In some states (NY for example) it would be a felony whether locked or not, unless you have a pistol permit. In AZ, NH and a few others, you would be legal.

2.

Too many variables from state to state to answer here. Generally, unless a person is a prohibited person (i.e. felon, convicted of DV, or adjudicated to be insane) one is unlikely to be prosecuted on a gun charge if the self-defense was justifiable. Not that it couldn't happen, just that it would be a nearly untenable political decision for prosecutors.

3. A firearm accident occurs, and someone is wounded or killed. Is the person who caused the accident liable for manslaughter charges?

YES

4. In the course of a defensive shooting, a round from your firearm either misses or overpenetrates the adversary and hits an innocent bystander. Legal penalties?

Probably. But one would definitely incur civil liability of the first order. Carry hollow-points and know your target and what is behind it.

[EricReynolds]

It really does depend where you live. Where I live (in NY) you would need a ccw to carry in a briefcase, you'd end up in trouble if you left your gun in your car, (still better if it saved your kid's life but I don't think you'd be off the hook) you'd probably be ok if your gun was in your house with the same scenario but the cops might give you a hard time still for having firearms accessible to minors, you'd be liable for any accident if not criminally then certainly civilly. Negligence has to be proven, but you can be sued even if it's determined no crime has been committed.

[Aguila Blanca]

Another vote for "It depends."

We have fifty states, and each state writes their laws differently from the other forty-nine. Definitions and conditions within each state's laws make ALL the difference. One state might consider having a firearm in a duffle bag to be "carrying" while another might consider it to be "transporting." Some might differentiate based on whether or not the firearm is loaded -- and then the states don't all agree on what constitutes "loaded."

There simply is NO one size fits all response to such questions. If you want a general answer from a bunch of people on the Errornet, you have to at least identify what state you're in. If this is a real question involving you or a member of your family -- spend the $$$ to hire a real lawyer in your state and get a more knowledgeable opinion that addresses the situation specifically.

[Southern_guy]

What of Louisiana laws? It's not a current situation, I'd just like to avoid legal difficulties in the future- for instance, I'd often carry a 9mm in my backpack when hiking in the past, and would like to know if I legally needed a CCP to do that.

[wally626]

1. If one was carrying a pistol in an object such as a duffel bag, backpack, or briefcase on their person, would they require an Concealed Carry Permit to do so?

It would be considered a concealed weapon, but most states have exemptions for carrying unloaded weapons to ranges, hunting, to get repaired and bringing them home from the store. This is a separate issue form possession which may be banned without a permit in some states.

2. Let's say you keep a sidearm in your glovebox, and your teenage son or daughter is driving the family vehicle that day. They are attacked while in town, and defend themselves successfully with the handgun. Or maybe they are alone at home when a burglary occurs, and the same thing occurs. Would there be legal difficulties to a minor having done so?

Gun in glovebox depends on the state as far as legality, but possession of a handgun by a minor would most likely be illegal, use would be OK, or at least even if a violation, would be very unlikely to be prosecuted if the defensive use was legitimate. But if the minor was stopped for some reason and the car searched, he would be in a lot of trouble if the gun was found. In the house it would depend on state laws and how much they restrict access to handguns by minors in the home.

3. A firearm accident occurs, and someone is wounded or killed. Is the person who caused the accident liable for manslaughter charges?

This is Lawyer territory, but if really an accident no, charges from none to murder depending on the circumstances. True accidents are pretty rare, most of the time some negligence is involved.

4. In the course of a defensive shooting, a round from your firearm either misses or overpenetrates the adversary and hits an innocent bystander. Legal penalties?

Probably no criminal issues in most cases but there could be big civil liabilities.

[wally626]

What of Louisiana laws? It's not a current situation, I'd just like to avoid legal difficulties in the future- for instance, I'd often carry a 9mm in my backpack when hiking in the past, and would like to know if I legally needed a CCP to do that.

Yes, you would need to have a permit to carry in the backpack. You can open carry if you wish without a permit depending on whatever restrictions LA has on that. VA is a very open carry state but carrying in the Federal or State woods is unlawful without a permit or during hunting season with a current hunting license.

[Sefner]

4. In the course of a defensive shooting, a round from your firearm either misses or overpenetrates the adversary and hits an innocent bystander. Legal penalties?

Many states, MI being one of them, have a law that states that if a shooting is found to be a justifiable homicide that the shooter is immune from civil liability from the shooter. No one has really tested the "from third parties". I would imagine they are not. HOWEVER:

There was recently a case out of Detroit where a man fired upon a car jacker. One of the rounds pierced a nearby house and struck an elderly woman, killing her. The carjacker was charged with murder. It seems to be the case generally (notice that I say "seems to" and "generally") here in MI that any "bad things" that happen during the course of a crime are the direct fault of the person that instigated the crime. This does not extent to negligence on the crime victim's part, but we can expound on this a little:

There was one case here in MI in which two guys robbed a house. Upon entry to the house they were met with a pistol-wielding homeowner who shot and killed one of the robbers and wounded the other. The living robber was charged with murder.

Had the shooter acted negligently (ie: firing upon the robbers while they were running away from his house out on his lawn) and caused injury to a third party (ie: his neighbors), it probably would have been the shooter facing charges from the whatever resulted from his shots (whether that's property damage or loss of life).

Civil penalties would be much much different, though.

Also I am not a lawyer.