This is truly a horrible thread.
Whatever Rittenhouse was acquitted of, let's not lose sight of the fact that he was almost certainly carrying his weapon unlawfully [unless anyone is arguing that he was just hunting, then any person u-18 bearing a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A felony]; he did not have a permit; he was not old enough to carry; and - more to the point - he was woefully ill-equipped to do whatever he claimed he was doing. What on earth could he hope to achieve by unlawfully carrying a weapon that LEOs couldn't?
He's not a hero. At best, he is a misguided and foolhardy kid, whose reckless actions directly caused the deaths of several people.
well, quite. He cannot legally claim to have acted in self-defense simply because he was in the commission of two crimes himself (carrying weapons unlawfully). He could only justifiably claim self-defense if he was in imminent danger. Shooting someone who threw a bag of garbage in his direction is not imminent danger. He subsequently fired into a crowd.
Some people are OKing this because the victims have unpleasant backgrounds with the law. Putting aside the fact that Rittenhouse did not know this, what a horrible way for people who consider themselves children of God to think. How awful for people to think so little of peole's lives, that we're better off without them because some idiot with a gun happened to be around that night.
Despicable.
You can argue Wisconsin gun law is bad, or debate whether he was truly defending himself, but please stop spreading the misinformation that Kyle Rittenhouse was breaking the law before he even pulled the trigger. That is not true. The judge threw that charge out because it conflicted with Wisconsin law.
Without arguing for or against Wisconsin statute, it basically is summarized as this:
Possession and control of firearms outside of family land, require the accompaniment of a person 18 or more,
until the person is 16.
From 16 to 18 rifles and shotguns may be carried openly without the presence of an adult, but not dangerous weapons as defined by law. Under Wisconsin statute this means a gun with a barrel shorter than 12 inches (concealable)
From 18 to 21 legal weapons may be carried openly, the list of dangerous weapons no longer applies, but concealed carry is still prohibited.
Age 21 or over, a concealed carry permit shall be issued if applied for. Most adults are eligible.
So Kyle (being 17) was legally allowed to carry his weapon, as long as he did not try to conceal it, and if he was being supervised by an adult, he could have been as young as 12.
