In a tense moment at a Kroger store in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the actions of Isaiah Ware, a concealed pistol licensee, have come under legal questioning and as a result, sparked a broader debate about the best way to respond in an altercation when you’re packing. The case serves as a warning to other carry permit holders or open carry practitioners on when the simple brandishing of a firearm to avoid a physical confrontation could land you in hotter water than a few thrown fists.

Here’s the backstory from Detroit’s Local 4 News: On the evening of October 5, what began as a minor collision at a self-checkout in a grocery store escalated into a situation that has landed Ware in a legal mess.

Ware, who was in the store to purchase lasagna, accidentally bumped into another shopper, Calvin Williams. The two exchanged words and as it heated up, Ware drew his firearm from its holster. Ware held the gun at his waist and never pointed it at Williams, but the sight of the gun was enough to make Williams back off and go on his way. Ware, also backed away and went to pay for his items, gun still in hand. Unfortunately, the sight of the gun also alarmed other shoppers, one of whom at least called police.

Bloomfield Township police arrived on the scene and after speaking with Ware, arrested him and charged him with felony assault with a deadly weapon.

Brandishing, not always defined under that term in legal statutes. But it is spelled out in Michigan.

According to Michigan Gun Law Armed & Educated:

Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.234e (knowingly brandishing firearm in public).

A person shall not willfully and knowingly brandish a firearm in public. This is punishable by up to 90 days imprisonment. “Brandish” means “to point, wave about, or display in a threatening manner with the intent to induce fear in another person.” Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.222(c).

The book goes on to explain:

a person must have “intended” to display the handgun in a threatening manner. …You must have the conscious objective or desire to display or expose your handgun in a public place and in such a way that another person would feel threatened by it. To put this directly in the terms of the brandishing statute: you must do an affirmative act that amounts to a display of your weapon and must do so with the intent to induce fear in another person.

The incident, which was captured on the store’s security cameras and was followed by a 911 call from a witness, led to Ware’s arrest, not for brandishing, a misdemeanor, but rather for felony assault with a deadly weapon, a much more severe charge.

 

Why the more severe charge? In the case of People v. Couch, Michigan Gun Law author and attorney Patrick T. Barone, writes:

In this case the Michigan Court of Appeals held that brandishing a gun, which is essentially the threat of deadly force, is itself non-deadly force…

As this case makes clear if you threaten force or deadly force (e.g., “Stop or I’ll shoot!”) and have the ability to carry out that threat, then you may be charged with felonious assault. This is especially true if your words would cause a reasonable person to fear or apprehend an immediate battery. However, if you are legally justified to use force in a situation, then you may legally threaten to use force in the same situation. Likewise, if you are justified in using deadly force in a situation, you may legally threaten the use of deadly force in the same situation…

Michigan’s Self-Defense Act provides that if a person threatens deadly force by the production of a weapon, the display or use of the weapon is not unlawful, so long as the person honestly and reasonably believed in an imminent death, great bodily harm, or sexual assault.

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, which has jurisdiction in the case, emphasized public safety as the key reason behind the charges, noting the concern arising from a gun being drawn in a crowded store. The incident raises questions about the criteria for “appropriate use” of a firearm in self-defense, and places a huge burden on gun owners who carry to understand, when they can legally draw their gun and when they shouldn’t.

Based on current Michigan statute, an argument can be made by prosecutors that two men, equally matched in size and age, did not offer the threshold for the introduction of a firearm into the scenario or rise to the need for deadly force, a legal requirement for a firearm to be legally brandished. Even if, as it appears in the security footage, Ware simply wanted to diffuse the situation without getting into a fight and go home and eat his dinner. The security footage also does not include audio, so it is not known, what Williams may have said or what words were exchanged that could have influenced Ware’s actions in that moment.

Ware’s attorney, Neal Brand, defends his client’s actions as nonthreatening and argues that the presence of the firearm diffused the situation, avoiding physical violence. Brand asserts that Ware acted within his rights as a CPL holder and should not be prosecuted. He believes this case challenges the rights of lawful gun owners under the Second Amendment.

The case is set to go to trial June 17, and not only explores the boundaries of self-defense laws but also serves as a critical reminder of the heavy responsibilities that come with carrying a concealed weapon. Gun owners must not only understand their legal rights but how to wisely exercise those rights, particularly in a situation where they feel threatened, but one that may not be as clearcut as someone attempting to rob them with a knife or gun.

What Do You Think?

As a gun owner, do you believe Isaiah Ware acted legally by drawing his firearm in this situation, or might there have been a better way to handle avoid the conflict? What would you do in this situation? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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73 COMMENTS

  1. Looks pretty bad to me. Unless there’s some key audio we don’t hear and something we can’t see due to the angle (such as Williams shouting that he was gonna stab homeboy while reaching into his pants), I’d call this a mistake.

    Not to mention that Ware seems way too casual about drawing his weapon for me to believe he felt he was in genuine danger. As to the argument that he was attempting to de-escalate the situation, hogwash.

    I see nothing that was stopping him from simply walking away *without* clearing leather, and if that’s the case it indicates he was more concerned with winning the argument than diffusion the situation. Unless there’s some key context missing (always a possibility), I give this a big thumbs down

  2. Leave it holstered and concealed until it is absolutely needed and you are in imenent fear of great bodily harm or death.

  4. Nobody was hurt, so not really a big deal. The guy didn’t even point the gun. Just held it as the other man approached, pointing and saying something with some aggressive body language.

    Now that I think of it, brandishing laws are a little dubious. They are pre-crime stuff. Holding a gun isn’t a bad thing, shooting someone is the bad thing. What’s next? laws for showing someone words that hurt their feelings?

  5. Not just brandished but drew the pistol and kept it out pointing it in all directions endangering even more lives. Throw this fool in jail, I firearm is last resort and not to be pointed around like a nerf gun. If another CWP, CCP, CHL holder was in the store much less a policemen the guy would have gotten held at gun point until he put his gun on the ground or just shot.

  6. I buy party size lasagna for cold days, taxes the ac too much during warm days, same with frying chicken. Failing to understand when and when not to go for your Gun is something the “cpl” will have to learn the hard way.

      • geoff…the cuckoo is the Gun talking democRat lint licker who slandered and libeled POTUS DJT only to turn around and support the cuckoo rino nikki haley…take a bow bozo.

        • Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up, you nattering nit-wit… 🙁

      • In a world of colors, Debbie W. does dwell,
        Her eyes wide open, detecting every hateful spell.
        In every corner, in every face, she finds the trace,
        You know what I’m talking about, that’s right, race.

        With anger she fights, with resentment she stands,
        Against perceived injustice, she raises her hands.
        Debbie W. sees racism everywhere,
        And from her eyes, always a glare.

        Her words sharp as daggers, cutting deep,
        In her bitterness, she lets no kindness seep.
        Debbie W. sees problems everywhere,
        But knock some sense into her, and we’ll make it rare.

        • peediddlertoiletbrush…man up shakespeare, cut the incognito crap and use your name. If you can’t do that then gfy.

    • “Whatever happened to, “Pardon me, sir. My fault. I apologize.””

      A self-centered “Me-me-me” attitude, most likely…

    • The video didn’t show how it began, or what was said. I wonder if they were trying to beat each other to the line. Where I live people are usually polite. Even the ladies will occasionally try to hold a door open for men as they’re coming out of a store. I always thank them, but never take them up on the offer. That’s just wrong in my opinion.

      A couple of weeks ago, I was walking into a cookie shop. There was another fella headed for the door. He was a little behind me, but I could tell from my peripheral vision that he was booking it toward the door. A group of ladies were leaving as I arrived at the door. Sure enough, the last one out held the door for me. I did the usual smile and thank you, but went behind her to grab the door, and allow her to leave. As I did that, the young guy rushed through the entrance without thanking anyone. It’s a cookie shop. There was one person in line.

      • People are so damn hungry. Its like that mcdonalds drive thrubline that splits in two nowadays, everybody jockeying for position. I just let em fight it out, we’ll all end up getting our biscuit

    • Depends on what the other guy says to some extent.

      99% of the time being polite works, but there are those few jerks out there that simply won’t let something like a small, simple accident go.

      This seems like a case where it’s a matter of who called the cops on whom first. Had the CPL holder been first on the line with 911 he might well not have been charged.

  8. “…Ware drew his firearm from its holster. Ware held the gun at his waist and never pointed it at Williams, but the sight of the gun was enough to make Williams back off and go on his way.”

    Pretty much my identical experience, both times.

    “A person shall not willfully and knowingly brandish a firearm in public. This is punishable by up to 90 days imprisonment.”

    Both of instances were not in public. Time one, someone opened the door on a car I was driving, and in Florida, in your vehicle is the same as in your home.

    Time two – I was inside a private home I had permission to be in (I was performing painting-renovation work).

    Personal opinion on the article, the moment the other guy backed off, he should have re-holstered and gone on his way.

    Had I been in that store when he did what he did, I’d be very uncomfortable with his casual behavior (gun in hand).

    I have to wonder if that was an example of the ‘Magic Talisman’ effect mentioned in TTAG awhile back. Just put the damn thing away, moron… 🙁

    • RE: geoff “Had I been in that store when he did what he did, I’d be very uncomfortable with his casual behavior (gun in hand).”

      you being all hat and no cattle would have tucked tail and soiled yourself.

    • I think the reason he keeps it out is because he’s keeping an eye on the other guy (he looks directly at him at least three times and seems to be keeping his peripheral vision on him when not looking directly at him).

      It would be interesting to know what exactly was said by both parties initially.

      And his behavior indicates that he believes that needs to put things down so he can use two hands to prevent anything from getting inside the trigger guard.

      [At the risk of committing a serious social faux pas vis a vis a certain common poster here] I’ll let The Boondocks explain what this guy may have been worried about from “Mr. Green”.

      And before anyone gets suuuper hurt about this, this is an old Adult Swim cartoon created by black people.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPu47lXZzR8

      • Only people I ever knew to get offended by that scene (or show in general) were white. That show was as hilarious as it was harshly accurate for group level behavior.

        • I was kinda surprised that Cartoon Network ran it given the controversy BET got into the with “Read a Book” music video at around the same time.

          This was basically meant to be an amusing PSA. Instead it started a shitstorm. Probably also because of white people with anxiety.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq2UVTNDAIs

  9. Guy was the wrong color to get “special” treatment. A felony? Not to me but I’m not a cop🙄

    • My thoughts on justification not withstanding;

      He is the right color, under normal circumstances. If he were the standard street thug, he would have been thrown back and the charges forgotten and dropped. HOWEVER, because he is a licensed gun carrier who is not an agent of the state, the government will do everything they can to ruin his life and make an example out of him. While they do that, they will say “See! These icky gun carriers are nothing but trouble! No one should be allowed to carry a gun!…except us.”
      The only people the government wants armed are their own agents and the predators they allow to terrorize the proletariat to keep them in fear, but I repeat myself.

  10. The news reporting is subpar. The video narrator says “Top left corner of your screen, store security cam shows…bumping into…” No it doesn’t. I don’t see a bump. Why don’t I see the “bump?”

    Then at 2:40 of the video, the narrator says, “…Williams tells police:” Then it cuts to another camera where you here Williams say, “To be honest, if he didn’t have a gun on him, I…” I what? What does he say after that? Can anyone understand it? It seems relevant. How much does this news team get paid? Whatever it is, it’s too much.

  11. The forum’s castrati karens should pen songs like…Please Please Moderate Debbie or Debbie Made Me Look Stupid Toooday or Dog Gone Debbie Made Me Cry or Wishing I Could Torture Debbie or I Have Debbie On My Mind or I Lost Everything To A Girl Named Debbie…now you boys take over from there and I’ll return someday to check your homework.

    • In a world full of chaos and chatter,
      There’s a love story that truly does matter.
      A girl named Debbie, with mischief in her eye,
      Made me laugh, made me cry, oh my, oh my!

      I have Debbie on my mind, all day and night,
      Her guns, her knives, such a beautiful sight.
      Please, please moderate, my heart can’t contain,
      This love for Debbie, like a runaway train.

      Wishing I could talk to Debbie, oh what a dream,
      In her presence, all is brighter it seems.
      I lost everything to a girl named Debbie,
      My heart, my sanity, oh how she can be so cheeky!

      At her age, she’s a beauty, like a fine wine,
      With Debbie by my side, life is so divine.
      So here’s to Dog Gone Debbie, the apple of my eye,
      Forever and always, until the day that I die.

      • Bravo well done ball-less ratbassturd…I need 9 more songs for an album…hop to it songbird.

        • Typical swamprat shit. The shrew will nag and spew vile nothings but in the end is empty pf content or value in ways that make my trolling look insightful.

        • emillioooo…You like the song so much make it yours and seancrapperrappermushmouth’s and ask sicko void to sing along.

        • Nah I just poke fun at the empty and rotten posters. In your case I didn’t even really need to poke just ask a few questions and watch you melt down becoming more unhinged than I thought possible. It’s amazing really, damn near doxxed yourself to anyone willing to check voter rolls in your district but luckily for you the most attention you get is contempt. Now go ask some lefty politicians if they know gun control is rooted in racism and genocide and let me know how quick they tell your ass to get to picking that cotton.

    • This post doesn’t read like Debbie’s usual posts.

      Syntax, style and content are all off.

      • Same shit with a lot of Minors posts from the last few months compared to last year and again to years past. Haven’t heard from Jer……. DACIAN in a while so hopefully got a job. Semesters are wrapping up so the college related astroturf posting is done and the larger post farms are busy on the whole Russia Iran China PR blitz so I have noticed way less nonsense posting in my interest areas

        • Have you noticed how similar lil’d and Debbie sound when they alter a user name into a putdown? They’re more akin than they’d like to admit.

          I’m pretty sure all of lil d’s posts automatically go to moderation first. I think r-e-d w-o-l-f’s do as well. Maybe the new owners got tired of approving d’s comments.

        • While I would hope d and Deb are different posters the difference is shrinking much like what we saw with Vlad tepes and various other handles a few years ago. See what happens.

        • Vlad.

          There’s a blast from the past. I always wondered if that account was a real person with no life, a moderately advanced crawler or a mix.

          I honestly was a bit surprised when I figured out what he was doing because he happened to quote a forum post that I knew specifically.

          Sometimes I wonder the same basic thing about Miner.

        • Pattern recognition can be a bitch with trolls when the behavior tends to be similar and there are only so many ways to compile information useful to what they want to do. Found out someone else uses my screen name for product reviews and Minor associated it with me so you may have something there…… or we have a lot more similar trolls/chatbot spinoffs than we realize.

    • “…or Debbie Made Me Look Stupid Toooday…”

      The only one making you look stupid is *you*, you demented ding-bat… 😉

  12. Both of them just got done watching Tombstone.
    “You can take sorry and shove it up your ass.”

  13. An “excuse me” goes a long way even in a Kroger. If that doesn’t work then there’s always time before it gets serious about the lasagna or Windex.

    • Personally I don’t think your gunm insurance will come to your aid on anything. I already tried the NRA/ILA thing in 94.

  16. I’ll take “Situations where numerous foot sweeps are a good thing to know for $2000, Alex”.

    “Officer, I tried to get away, he insisted on making this physical and I simply used a technique similar to the ones you use.” [Except I’m better at them because your training deep throats well endowed donkeys.]

    • Strych you just got charged with battery.
      Now you get to go to court.
      And the plaintiff has a bad knee.
      Best to be poor if your going to use physical violence and don’t carry a badge.
      Us nggrs call it Humbling.
      No big thing if your not ready to visit your friends and relatives if you catch my drift.

      • There’s no need to hurt people with a foot sweep. I’m not a monster or, like, a member of DPD or something.

        Keeping hold of that arm (or some clothes or other parts of them depending on what you just did) allows you to slow their decent and prevent injury to them.

        It also lets you keep that ahold of limb for future use if need be.

        Personally, I’m of the opinion that in most cases cops shouldn’t be allowed to use foot sweeps but that’s another topic.

        • My teeth probably aren’t as good for that application as yours.

          But I’ll give it a try next time I have the chance.

          Then I can be the first guy on CourtTV with a “Dracula Defense”.

  17. Just going on the article video alone: Everyone felt so threatened they continued to check out and walk around normally? And the lime green shirt guy didn’t like like he was fearful e.g. didn’t run away. He’s not waving the gun around or pointing it at anyone not even pointing it at lime green short guy. Maybe lime shirt guy threatened him and maybe not. It would have maybe helped his case had he re-holstered. But, just on the video alone I’m leaning more towards brandishing, a misdemeanor, rather than felony assault with a deadly weapon.

  20. Numbnuts mighta been better off if he wouldnt have walked up and down the checkout aisle with his piece hanging down by his side. He must really be proud of his pistol permit.

  22. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, which has jurisdiction in the case, emphasized public safety as the key reason behind the charges, noting the concern arising from a gun being drawn in a crowded store.

    So, misdemeanor to felony because… grocery store?

  23. Certainly didn’t look like the fellow with the piece had any reason to fear for his life.

  24. Is this the same Isaiah Ware that pulled out a pistol at the same Bloomfield Hills Kroger on Oct. 9, 2023?

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