The video above is not complete. We don’t know what led up to this confrontation or what happened after it. The news report at jdnews.com doesn’t provide more important details—save the names of the couple involved (Bradley Turner, 40, and Christy Turner, 30), the fact that they had a toddler in the car and the charges brought against them . . .
Bradley Turner is charged with discharging a weapon into property, two counts of assault by pointing a gun, going armed to the terror of the people, injury to personal property and assault. His wife is charged with two counts of assault by pointing a gun.
From what we see here, even without full context, we can conclude that Mr. Turner shouldn’t have had access to a firearm. To wit:
Whatever the cause, Mr. Bradley initiates violence—and gets a beat-down by multiple aggressors. His wife brandishes a gun to stop the beat-down, and then hands the gun to her husband, who threatens his attackers.
I’m not a lawyer, but I know the general principles involved. If you initiate violence, you lose the right to claim self-defense. If you escalate the violence (e.g., brandish a gun) to save your life, good for you. But you can’t claim self-defense. You’re legally responsible for any death or injury or property damage resulting from the fight.
Here’s where it gets a bit gnarly . . .
If an attack ends, even for a moment, it’s reset. Whoever initiates the violence at that point becomes the aggressor. Whomever is being attacked can claim self-defense. So if the boys had started kicking the shit out of Mr. Turner a second time, after an interval, Mr. Turner could have used the gun in self-defense.
I digress. That’s not what happened. Mr. Turner renewed his aggression. Fortunately for all involved, the incident ended without loss of life. Leaving us with an irresponsible gun owner of the day and a simple lesson for all gun owners: don’t start a fight. Ever.