PA: Fatal Shooting; Expired Permit; no Charges

Image from nbcphiladelphia.com

On Wednesday, 16 November, 2016, two brothers decided to rob a Bucks County pizza shop in Levitown, Pennsylvania. It was just after 10 p.m. The shop had closed only moments before, but there was one customer left inside.

During the robbery, one of the brothers, Shawn Rose, pistol whipped the customer on the forehead.  The customer dropped to one knee.

Rose looked away. The customer drew a .45 caliber Glock 30 or 36 from his pocket, and shot both brothers. Shawn was killed and Justin was critically wounded in the throat and shoulder. From nbcphiladelphia.com:

Shawn Rose allegedly pistol-whipped the customer in the forehead causing him to drop down to one knee. As Shawn Rose looked away for a moment, the customer pulled out his own .45 caliber handgun from his jacket and fired one shot, striking him in the torso, officials said.

Officials said the customer then fired two shots at Justin Rose, striking him in the throat and shoulder area. Justin Rose fell through the door of the store. The customer then aimed his weapon at the two brothers until police arrived.

Every fatal shooting is fraught with consequences.  In this case, there was an added complexity.  The shooter had a concealed carry permit, but the permit was expired.

Weintraub said the customer could have been charged however because he had an expired permit to carry a concealed weapon. They decided not to charge him “based on the totality of the circumstances.” 

“It was only months after his grace period for the renewal of that permit that ended,” Weintraub said. “He legally could have renewed his permit at any time and I want to emphasize that he should have renewed his permit to carry that concealed weapon. He was the victim of a robbery however and a pistol-whipping and that factored heavily into our decision.”

The District Attorney cited the fact that Pennsylvania is an open carry state in explaining his decision:

“If he had possessed the gun out in the open he wouldn’t have even needed a permit to carry at all,” Weintraub said. “Most importantly he used that gun to save his own life and the life of the intended victim, the pizza shop owner.”

If the DA had been an avid proponent of a disarmed population, the victim might have had to fight an expensive court battle. A decade ago, that would have been more likely. But today, many people have been educated about the Second Amendment, their rights, and the realities of armed defense of self and others. Public perception and attitudes have changed.

The more people become educated, the more they become Second Amendment supporters. The more Second Amendment supporters there are, the less likely it becomes for the authorities to persecute them.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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