Hey, there! Log in / Register
Police say drunk guy's loaded gun fell down his pants at South End drugstore
By adamg on Mon, 03/26/2018 - 12:48pm
Boston Police report arresting a Dorchester man on a variety of gun charges last night after a worker at the CVS on Columbus Avenue, around the corner from the Back Bay T stop, called to report the guy was at the counter, and pretty unsteady when a gun slipped out of his pants leg and onto the floor.
Police say that by the time officers arrived, Christopher Baker, 29, had picked up the loaded black Desert Eagle gun and put it back in his waistband.
Officers were able to secure the suspect without incident, however, as they did so, he threatened that he could have shot the officers if he wanted. ... The officers observed that the suspect appeared to be unsteady on his feet and slurring his words, leading officers to believe he was intoxicated.
Police say he was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large-capacity firearm, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm and threats to do bodily harm. Police add that during booking, Baker threatened to "take down" officers.
Innocent, etc.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
gun
Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?
things i don't know
Does the license to carry a gun in Mass. disallow you from carrying it when you're alchohol blood level exceeds a limit?
The question occurred to me because every time I say we should restrict the sale of AR-15s someone says, "How about cars."
Sorry to see this guy in such a bad way and all the threatening rhetoric that likely resulted from his inebriated response. I have to believe the officers deserve credit for handling the situation well. No shots fired. No overreaction. Steady deescalation in the face of threats and means.
Where does it say it was
Where does it say it was alcohol?
I provided a link to the BPD report
Which has a rather large headline reading:
One Less Gun: Officers Recover Firearm from Intoxicated Suspect in the South End
The report then describes how responding officers came to the conclusion that the man was under the influence of an intoxicating liquor.
Law or no law
It's a dumb thing to do.
It'll get your license pulled faster
than a drunk pulling down his pants to relieve himself.
But by the sound of it this guy did not have a license to begin with.
Ain't no law you can pass that'll stop people from disobeying it if they were going to already.
Guns are too accessible, anyway.
Or, if the guy in question did have a license to carry a firearm, he shouldn't have had one, to begin with.
Kudos to the police for handling it calmly and not overrreacting, and therefore not causing any deaths or maimings to occur, but that guy's gun should be taken from him, and he should be tried for, charged with, and possibly jailed for illegal position of a firearm.
That saying is so old and
That saying is so old and cliche. Ugh.
Waistband
A great holster for guys who don't care about shooting their junk off.
Desert Eagle is a very large pistol
and very powerful. Not surprised it fell; it should be in a holster.
Even with a holster I’d never
Even with a holster I’d never attempt to conceal carry one of those, way too big
Disregard my last comment. I
Disregard my last comment. I should’ve looked at the picture. That’s a normal sized pistol, not the stereotypical hand cannon you associate with the Desert Eagle name.
Maybe
The police put "file photo" under the photo, so it may not be the gun in question.
That picture is definitely
That picture is definitely not a Desert Eagle, it’s some Italian .22 caliber pea shooter. Desert Eagles come in a variety of calibers, but none are a daily carry piece.
Probably not the gun in question
That's a file photo; I guess BPD likes to illustrate posts about guns with a picture of a gun, even if it's not the gun in question.
Not as large as a CVS receipt
though.
Adam, lets follow this one...
In the wake of the assemblies on Saturday (and increased talks for common sense gun reform) I think it would be an interesting journalistic exercise to follow this case as it works through the system. After all, with the call for more laws, we would first expect the existing laws to be strongly enforced - and penalties handed down accordingly. Right?
Per the report, Mr. Baker is charged with:
unlawful possession of a firearm
unlawful possession of ammunition
unlawful possession of a large-capacity firearm
unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm and threats to do bodily harm.
threatening to shoot police officers
public intoxication
He made the decision to break essentially every Mass Gun Law.
I would be interested to see how much time Mr. Baker receives in prison for these multiple criminal actions relating to illegal firearms. Since law-abiding gun owners are being labeled and ostracized, I like to think that the actual criminals would receive at least the same level of scrutiny.
My guess is a slap on the wrist and probation.
These cases are tough to
These cases are tough to follow considering the multiple opportunities to default on court dates.
Unless I'm mistaken
.. the man was not charged with discharging the weapon. The problem we seek to avoid is prospective -- unwarranted use of lethal force that causes grievous bodily harm or death. It's true though, that the consequences and the rehabilitation on these charges can effect the outcome of the problem we seek to avoid.
good spin...nope
nope,...as a LEGAL gun owner - the problem I "seek to avoid" is drunk criminals in my city carrying around hand-cannons, then getting released to re-offend.
"unwarranted use"? there would have been no warranted use - the guy was in possession of an ILLEGAL large cap firearm.
"consequences and the rehabilitation on these charges" - We just had thousands of people marching in the streets on Saturday to stem gun violence. While "fighting the NRA" is part of it, the other focus should be on enforcing the laws we have - and punishing law-breakers accordingly. I don't care about their rehabilitation, I just don't want them in my neighborhood CVS with illegal guns, get it.
The reality is that around 3% of murders occur by rifle. That means the majority are committed by handgun-toting law-breakers like this loser.
If we are serious about stemming the tide of shootings, we should also be serious about removing criminals from our streets that brazenly break our many "common sense" gun laws already in place.
I support large-cap mag restrictions, better/universal background checks, and regulating private sales. But newsflash - stringent gun laws WIN NOT STOP criminals like this guy from breaking the law.
Want to affect real change? implement the three points above, and then drop the hammer on people that choose to break our gun laws. Start sending them away for LONG stretches and things will change.
I stand by my opinion, however, that
AR-15's and other automatic assault rifles should be banned, in addition to taking such felons off the streets.
automatic rifles are already banned
Automatic rifles are already banned - the media is doing a great job of misinformation. The majority of firearms deaths are committed with handguns. While I completely respect your stance on AR-Style Rifles - they are not being used in the majority of cases - including this one. We need a broader overhaul. MA gun laws are super strict - and I support other states having to adopt some of the smart regulations we have here (mag restrictions, private sale regs, universal background, etc.). When criminals don't think twice about carrying illegally, there is more to the problem than just ARs.
Well it depends on what this guy lawyer says....
He may argue that the police had no right to stop this man because having a firearm isn't illegal and not enough to conduct a threshold inquiry.
So the initial description given to the police by the caller, and other information that may have been passed forward will be important (did the clerk see the man was under the influence).
Or maybe the caller/witness just doesn't show up to court? That happens frequently.
If convicted though Rostonion, he will get more than probation and a slap on the wrist. Contrary to popular belief, judges do take illegal gun charges pretty seriously in this State.
Things happen at that CVS
conservative, age 25, carries handgun like fashion accessory
I think she sets a bad example. NSSF Rule #1 "1. ALWAYS KEEP THE MUZZLE POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION"
There' s no such thing as a "safe" direction to point a gun,
even when just carrying it. There have been instances where guns have gone off by accident when carriers have not even used them, or had them aimed at anything or anybody, resulting in rather serious injuries to the carrier, and to other people nearby.
There was an incident like that afew years ago at a Wal*Mart someplace in the midwest or the south 2 or three years ago, when a loaded gun went off, and seriously injured another shopper nearby.
Another incident (though the location escapes me at the moment.), also in a Wal*Mart or similar place, a guy's loaded gun accidentally went off while in his holster or pocket, injuring him rather badly.
That woman's taking a rather stupid risk by having it point down to her feet/or the ground like that. She could be seriously injured or possibly killed if that loaded gun went off accidentally.
Guns do not just "go off". A
Guns do not just "go off". A very small number (usually very old ones) will fire if dropped. For everything else, you must pull the trigger for it to fire. This is why the biggest purpose of a holster is to cover the trigger, so it can't get pulled accidentally. Any case of a gun "going off" is somebody trying to cover up doing a very stupid thing.
To be fair
it does depend on the gun's design, not its age. I can't see in the photo what kind it is, but some animals are more equal than others.
1911 with the hammer back and safety off? Bad idea.
DAO anything with a heavy trigger pull...lots of people do it without incident.
Bigger issue with the photo is it's not clear that it's in a holster at all. Could be it is. Could even have a magnet at the bottom so it won't fall out. Could be she's being an idiot on camera.
Either way, let's all agree that it's a good idea to be conspicuous about gun safety.
Like, when your two year old pulls it from your purse?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/31/the-inside...
not at a person
Not at a person is a more safe direction. Also, not at your genitals and legs.
.50 or replica?
.50 or replica?