“A 22-year-old man found himself facing a summons after he told officers he fired his shotgun repeatedly upon finding masked suspects leaning in his window.” Huh? But the Vice President of these here U-Nited States said firing warning shots with a shotgun is the sine qua non in home defense strategy. Ol’ Double Barrel Joe even confided that he advised his own wife to do just that if she ever felt threatened in their home. Guess that doesn’t apply in Virginia. Trevor Snowden of Virginia Beach “told police his dog was acting strange. When he walked to his bedroom, he said he saw two masked suspects leaning in his open window” . . .

From wavy.com:

Snowden told police the suspects pointed weapons at him and told him to shut the bedroom door. Thinking the suspects were going to rob him, he moved into the hallway and retrieved a shotgun.

Moyers said Snowden fired through his bedroom door, then opened the door and fired several more rounds toward the window. Any suspects fled the area and could not be located by officers.

Snowden’s been charged with reckless handling of a firearm. Since this was all just a misunderstanding – Trevor was obviously just following government sanctioned advice –  we’re sure the Veep will be glad to cover his attorney’s fees and any fines that may be assessed.

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111 COMMENTS

    • According to Shotgun Joe, he should have gone OUTSIDE and shot the shotgun, which is certain to foil the burglars INSIDE.

      • Slo Joe also advised to “just shoot through the door” in another of his “brilliant” self defense statements. Being that VP Slo Joe made the statement and it was widely publicized…it should be accepted as fact and charges dropped. They should then put old Slo Joe in a Rubber Room and keep him there!

        • You have to remember that Slo Joe avoided the draft in his younger days, so he’s not real adept with weapons….or speaking.

          Who elected these strokes?

    • Has anybody else ever wondered if Double Barrel Joe has Jeff Dunham’s hand up his rump? Looks just like Walter.

  2. As much as I would love to believe that this Mr. Snowden was acting on Sheriff Joe’s advice, it more likely that this IGOTD candidate would have let loose absent the VP’s advice.

      • Shot through the door without seeing what was on the other side and then fired a number of rounds blindly through a window. I wonder where all those little balls went?

        • Who cares, those little balls only go a few hundred feet at the most, and are harmless after much less. He was in his house, chasing assailants out of his house. There should be no charges at all.

        • Tdiinva…do you always just blindly and ignorantly judge people?…it said he was in the room and then backed out and shut the door at the orders of the bad guys so he KNEW what was beyond that door and what he was shooting at…it was the 2 SCUMBAGS breaking into his house!!…learn how to read and how to actually COMPREHEND what you are reading for Christ’s sake.

        • Was he using rifled slugs or what? I get the quick shot through the door, but he should have re-aquired the targets before letting loose further rounds. Dont know if he should be charged though.

      • Xeller:

        Look d****$$, In Virginia you don’t get to shoot unless someone is pointing a weapon at you and you can’t fire on someone who has left your property. If there is a door between you and the threat you are not free to fire unless they shoot first. If you don’t know the laws governing the use of force in your jurisdiction than you are irresponsible and should not own firearm.

        • BTW, let someone come in your home with a gun, are you going to stand on the other side of the door and wait for them to shoot first?! What a STUPID law and an even stupider statement! I have kids, if your ass comes into my house with a knife or even a stick I am going to load it full of bullets and that is what you get for bringing your dumb ass into my house. Once you cross the threshold into my home you are considered uninvited and I will usher you into your next life. Criminals deserve what ever justice is laid upon them by the innocent who are defending themselves. Once those idiots entered that house they lost all their rights. What a bunch of pansies with your retarded laws.

        • “Look d****$$, In Virginia you don’t get to shoot unless someone is pointing a weapon at you…”

          Alright, I know it is really stupid to argue with a fool like yourself, but hopefully this rebuttal to your claim will help remove your head from your ass. It obviously isn’t going to manage to get it stuck any deeper in there.

          Read this part of the article. It seems as though you missed it: “Snowden told police the suspects pointed weapons at him and told him to shut the bedroom door.”

          So, Deputy Dipshit, what claims would you like to make? They DID point a weapon at him. Your own argument argues against you!

        • RS:

          You are the one with his head up his a$$. I will go through Snowden’s statement for you:

          “Snowden told police the suspects pointed weapons at him and told him to shut the bedroom door. Thinking the suspects were going to rob him, he moved into the hallway and retrieved a shotgun”

          then the statement from the Police:

          “Moyers said Snowden fired through his bedroom door, then opened the door and fired several more rounds toward the window. Any suspects fled the area and could not be located by officers.”

          They pointed weapons at him and told him to shut the bedroom door. He moves into the hallway and shuts the door. There is no longer a weapon pointed at him that he could see. Do you think that the bad guys would passively let him go and get shotgun while they could see him? Under VA law he has retreated temporary safety. He can breakout his weapon but he can’t fire it unless the threat reappears. Any his use of his weapon at this point is a breach of the Virginia rules governing DGUs. If one the bad guys fired through the door he could discharge his weapon. If they opened the door and threatened him he could discharge his weapon. That’s not what happened. According to his own statement Snowden retrieved his shotgun and fired it through a close door then he goes into the room and fires several shots through his bedroom window at the retreating invaders who he may not even see. Again, a breach of VA law governing a DGU. It plain and simple, he violated the prevailing VA laws on DGUs.

          It is better to remain silent and let people think you are a fool then open your mouth and remove all doubt. You have just demonstrated that you have SFB.

        • tdiinva,

          What you are suggesting is that they did just that. You are basically saying they told him to close the door, then allow him to go get a weapon and do whatever he choose. Is he supposed to just let them rob him blind, or try to stop them? If he is supposed to try to stop them, how? Do you suggest he open the door, notifying anyone in there that he is coming in, giving them time to get a perfect angle on him and kill him? Or, do you suggest he knock once or twice and really politely say “Hey guys? Are you still in there? I just want to know if I can come in and try to stop you. If you are, just say so and then give me a few seconds to spot you after I open the door before you try to hurt me.” I am sure both of those options would work REAL well.

          And as for what the law is, that just shows how ass-backwards that state is. They would rather force someone to be robbed than be able to defend their own property. Personally, I would rather drop a piece of shit trying to steal my stuff than see them get away, even if they are running away from me so scared they have shit racing down both legs. I would rather be alive with some people thinking I did the wrong thing. You would obviously be carried by 6 while letting everyone else know you did what the law said was right as opposed to be alive and possibly have someone else say you did the wrong thing. That is a scary mentality you have. I can’t imagine how someone could ever be brainwashed to think that way.

    • I have to agree with Joke & Dagger, there were two people breaking into his house, they pointed a gun at him, that’s a threat of deadly force. Maybe the summary and the story aren’t describing it the same way the cops are, but I don’t see the problem unless he actually followed the VP’s advice absent deadly threat or after the deadly threat had fled.

      • Except in Virginia you must retreat even in your own home. Firing blindly through the door after you have removed yourself from danger constitutes a violation of the law. I will grant that the first shot may have been less than irresponsible but then proceeding to fire through the window at the fleeing suspects is not OK in any state. His life was no longer in danger. He was acting irresponsble in my book.

        • That’s right tdiinva, when they tag the safe zone you have to let them go. I am sure they will think about that nights events as they crawl through the next victims window.

          That said, I don’t think you can toss your judgement around without knowing all the facts. What was beyond that window, anything in range of those rounds fired? Anything other than the people that might have killed the man and his wife? I guess some kid might have been flying a kite a few feet away…the world may never know.

        • Which is why I love FL and TX and their caste doctrine. If it is my property that I worked my butt off to get then I can shoot you for trying to take it. Duty to retreat my ass, what a pansy way to live.

        • You can only use deadly force if your life is in danger. It isn’t when they are moving in the opposite direction from you. When TTAG was actually covering defensive tactics the writers repeatedly emphasized that point. You go ahead and chase someone down and make some prosecutor’s day.

        • “but then proceeding to fire through the window at the fleeing suspects is not OK in any state” = FALSE!!!

          The law in Texas allows one to fire at the fleeing suspects at night. You may not be comfortable with the law as it is written. But it is what it is; don’t burgle a house in Texas and expect to successfully sue on account of you were running away.

        • Chris:

          I own multiple rifles and handguns. Both my wife and I have Virginia CCW permits. While you have to demonstrate proficiency with a gun, the primary purpose of the CCW class is not to demonstrate that you can handle a weapon. It is to explain Virginia laws on the defensive use of firearms. Virginia is neither a stand your ground nor castle doctrine state. In order for you to legally use a firearm in self defense there must an imminent threat to you life. Imminent means that you must physically confronted by a potentially deadly threat at the instant you fire your weapon. It also must be a last resort. Mr. Snowden had escaped the threat. Under VA law the threat is no longer imminent and he is not cleared weapons hot as they would say in the military. His discharge through a closed door at a target he could not see is against Virginia law. Also under Virginia law you cannot fire on a retreating threat. Firing through the window at a threat that had already retreated is also prohibited by Virginia law. Now, you may feel that the law is stupid and I might even agree with you but those are the rules of engagement in Virginia and if you want to stay out of trouble don’t violate the ROE. When you violate the ROE you are behaving in an irresponsible manner hence my desire to nominate Mr. Snowden for an IGOTD award.

        • In Florida and all stand your ground states once a threat is made you have a right to use deadly force even if it is later and there doesn’t seem to be a threat anymore. A good example of something like this would be: you threaten to do harm to someone and see if the police don’t come arrest you later. They will because regardless of whether you still mean it or not you made the threat. I also agree that shooting blindly might not be the best bet, but threaten me or my family and I won’t give a damn either my only concern will be killing anyone and everyone who is a threat, including shooting them in the back if necessary. I can assure you of this they won’t ever come back to my house. It is a show of no mercy(criminal very rarely show any until they know they are in trouble). Criminals like everyone else pick the easiest known targets and if they know I’ll kill them but you will just shoot at them who do you think they are going to rob? Sucks to be you.

        • jason: “In Florida and all stand your ground states once a threat is made you have a right to use deadly force even if it is later and there doesn’t seem to be a threat anymore.” Emphasis mine.
          That’s an interesting interpretation you’ve got there. I hope you never find out how wrong you are.

      • Tdiinva:
        I am not attacking you, and I simply want to know the answer to an honest question.
        Do you truly feel he was acting irresponsible? Or is this anti-gun rhetoric? Two armed assailants were breaking into his home! What if that was you, and you had a child in the house. Hell, screw the child scenario! Just you in the house! Your life is being threatened!
        What would you recommend he had done? Call the police while they robbed his house, or worse, shot him dead?
        I can’t believe you would leave yourself at the mercy of assailants in that situation? Right?

        Chris

        • (this actually belongs here. sorry for the repost)
          Chris:

          I own multiple rifles and handguns. Both my wife and I have Virginia CCW permits. While you have to demonstrate proficiency with a gun, the primary purpose of the CCW class is not to demonstrate that you can handle a weapon. It is to explain Virginia laws on the defensive use of firearms. Virginia is neither a stand your ground nor castle doctrine state. In order for you to legally use a firearm in self defense there must an imminent threat to you life. Imminent means that you must physically confronted by a potentially deadly threat at the instant you fire your weapon. It also must be a last resort. Mr. Snowden had escaped the threat. Under VA law the threat is no longer imminent and he is not cleared weapons hot as they would say in the military. His discharge through a closed door at a target he could not see is against Virginia law. Also under Virginia law you cannot fire on a retreating threat. Firing through the window at a threat that had already retreated is also prohibited by Virginia law. Now, you may feel that the law is stupid and I might even agree with you but those are the rules of engagement in Virginia and if you want to stay out of trouble don’t violate the ROE. When you violate the ROE you are behaving in an irresponsible manner hence my desire to nominate Mr. Snowden for an IGOTD award.

  3. This article should be re titled: Joe Biden please call your village, their idiot is missing and they want you back!!

    • That is one great picture of Joe: we should have that engraved for the $3 bill if this country ever issues one.

      • “Queer as a $3 bill” an that picture on it?? OMG!! LOL!!! Really should have that face engraved on the “New .39 cent Shotgun Joe coin coming soon from Danbury Mint”!!!
        “Get this collectible coin now before they are all gone, and as a bonus we will refund your .39cents”!!!!

  4. “…fired several more rounds…”
    He probably wasn’t using a double barrel shotgun (Link to quoted news report?). Everyone knows warning shots from an assault shotgun are dangerous, where as double barrel shotguns never hurt people of their own volition.

  6. Joe Biden’s advice was well intentioned, if utterly misguided.

    The cops – or perhaps the DA – in Mr. Snowden’s neck o’ the woods are just plain stupid.

    ‘Course, there might’ve been a picnic going on just outside his window…

    • Joe Biden’s intention was to discredit AR-15s as home defense weapons.

      Shooting through a closed door and out an empty window into the dark night are hard actions to defend, with an AR or shotgun.

      • No argument on the former, except that intending to do a thing one believes to be right is a good intention, even when one is wrong.

        His intention is to protect Americans; unfortunately, his aim’s a bit too far to the left, as ’twere.

        The road to Hell, y’know.

        As for a closed door, when there are armed thugs on the other side and the defender knows the floor plan – and thus where the bad guys last were – that’s not so bad.

        As for the open window, I don’t know. How high up? What’s beyond the window? A house, or an open field?

        Since he hasn’t been charged with property damage, methinks there wasn’t much to hit outside that window, and he probably knew that.

    • I disagree that Biden’s advice was “well intentioned.” His intention was to de-legitimize AR-15s as tools for self defense to further the administration’s goal of banning them.

        • “Above” didn’t clarify how you knew “Joe Biden’s advice was well intentioned.” For that matter, your assertion that “His intention is to protect Americans…” requires factual knowledge. When his current assignment is to marshal passage of a new AWB, magazine restrictions, and universal background checks, why do you even assume that his current purposes are “well intentioned” or intended “to protect Americans.” I would assume his intention is to stroke a part of the electorate upon whom he relies. You state these things as facts, rather than your opinion. One would more naturally say “I believe Joe Biden’s advice was well intensioned.” You didn’t. I’m curious. You write as if you were his staffer.

    • As a member of the bar association Joe should know better than to advise someone to break the law. Firing a gun into the air haphazardly will get you into two possible charges if nobody is hit; (a) Reckless Endangerment & (b) Deadly Conduct. If ones haphazard shooting results in injury then this ups the stakes.

      My point here is that as a member of the bar Joe “Two-Booms” Biden should not be giving out any advise which would lead another to break a law. IMO he ought to be disbarred for giving that advise.

  8. Well sure he’s in trouble, he did it wrong. Joe told his wife to walk outside onto the balcony and let off a couple shots. This guy could be cited for Criminal Non-Possession of a Balcony; I believe it’s a Third Degree Misdemeanor.

  9. This picture is priceless. Rather than the traditional 1,000 words, I’d say this picture says exactly 8: “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”

  10. Here is his problem is he shot out the window without a target in site instead of up in the air as a warning shot. Secondly the criminals were outside of his house so he would have had to waited till they were inside the house as per the laws state in some states.

    • Robert, what go up, must come down. You should never shoot a gun into the air, which was one of Biden’s biggest blunders. You notice I did say one of…

      • Do some research on terminal velocity. Bullets fired upward, unless at a an angle less than around 60 degrees, are not lethal when they come back down.

  12. I don’t see how this relates to what crazy Joe advised to do. This guy didn’t fire any warning shots in the air. It looks like he was attempting to shoot at the robbers. As much as I want the rest of America to realize Joe’s stupidity, this article isn’t it. This is a bit of an overreach.

  14. Judge throws out shooters defense. In his decision the Judge remarked “who in their right mind would listen to Joe Biden!”

  15. I think the “multiple shots” thing got him in trouble. You can’t shoot someone who is running away…ergo you can’t shoot at someone who is running away.

    Maybe not up to IGOTD standards, but certainly not something to emulate. However we also shouldn’t be quick to jump all over someone who was probably scared witless.

    Biden, on the other hand, seems to have been born witless.

  16. Blind Fire Joe needs to open up a shooting school, with a certificate from the Blind Fire Joe Academy you should be immune from any torte.

  17. To be honest, the shooter’s story sounds a little off. {/understatement}

    How, exactly, did two men manage to simultaneously stick their heads/arms/etc through his window at the same time? How big is this window?

    Did the cops find footprints, disturbed grass, or other evidence of trespassers outside the window?

    • The news article is very lean. Can’t blame Snowden whether it was lazy press or he decided to STFU. Anyone here in the Vah-Beach-Vah area volunteer to sit through the trial?

  19. Again, how exactly is Joe’s advice not “legal advice” from a lawyer? Is he not advising people to act in contradiction with the law? time for a Bar complaint?

  21. I guess Bonkers Biden also has a policy in dealing with North Korea. When they conduct a nuclear test he’ll just have the military fire two nukes straight up in the air to scare the bejesus out of ’em.

    Hey, this lunatic is a heartbeat away from being president. Now that scares the bejesus out of me!

  22. If Joe Biden would have been a Republican, he would have been butchered by the press… the Maindream press just gave him yet another pass. My question is; will an over and under work as well as a side by side? And, does it make any difference if he shell is 2 3/4 or does it have to be a 3 inch mag? And, should males also be always ready to urinate and defecate — night and day — like a female in order to prevent legal rape, in the event that the intruders are female (think gender fairness)? What is scary is not the potential for waking up the neighborhood at all hours of the night with twin barreled firecrackers being exploded out the veranda windows, but the ever present possibility that someone, somewhere might shoot the wrong person, and Dingaling Joe the wannabe Vice President becomes our new leader. One heart beat away…. my God, have mercy on us poor lost sinners, I repent, we all repent… please heal our land and send DC Miscreants back to their homes — .. Joe to Delaware and what’s his name to Kenya.

  24. Since he was charged the police probably took his weapon – hey criminals time to go back. Next on the nightly news, “man murdered even though he wasn’t a threat to anyone”.

  25. I would rather be that guy with the shot gun to fight back than any other homeowner without that shotgun who would very likely now be dead. No matter how badly he may have handled the emergency, at least he’s alive to tell about it.

  26. Words of advice though they should not be needed it is best to understand the system you are in. If you think you can not kill but need to fire a warning shot, do it. Then say the following……

    “I was in fear of my life and defending my home but I guess I missed”

    I know it is stupid but it is the way to not kill and not go to jail at the same time. The reason this stupid shit happens is the law of some moron states sees it this way, if you didn’t shoot at the person you didn’t need to shoot at all. There is no law against missing though.

    Now if this was me, bring on the jury! I bet you if he says that the charges suddenly get reevaluated and dropped.

  27. I’ll go ahead and state the obvious: In the interest of safety, and legality, he should have kept out of plain sight, maybe just peeking around the corner a bit, and waited until the thugs entered the window and were in the home. Then, he should have blown their f&*cking brains out, using the minimum amount of ammo needed to ghostify them. Sure, he would have to clean the walls & carpeting himself, but he PROBABLY would not be holding a summons now.

  28. im so glad i live in florida,the castle law says no retreat is needed.we used to have to try and get away,but thats all changed since the new law was passed.Biden is a total tool and is the poster boy for stupidity.didnt he say that the AR is used in mass shootings because its easy to use and aim,then says “buy a shotgun”its easier to fire and aim than an AR???????????he cant even keep one simple LIE straight.

  29. The man knew who was in the bedroom. Crooks with weapons. He shot when he felt that they may be coming to the door to invoke deadly force upon him or others in the house, if any. He shot in fear of his life, he opened the door and shot again as they left the room via the window. They still, in his mind, had the deadly weapon. Just my view. Not enough to really make an objective decision on the facts at hand. LEO’s are way to gun shy. They feel that everyone is a bad guy unless proved otherwise. GunPhobia is rampant in the Law Enforcement Community.

  30. There is a distinct and important reason that Biden specified a “double barrel shot gun”. The ultimate goal of gun control is a ban of all semi-automatic firearms. The only weapons not confiscated will be those that leave us manually ejecting spent casings from bolt action rifles, break barrel shot guns and single action revolvers. These will of course be permitted to protect our 2nd Amendment right to use a gun for sporting purposes only. (Oops, nix the revolvers! But wait, some States allow hunting with handguns. “Yoou doon’t neeeed aa haand guun too shoooot aa deeeer” and gone!)

  31. Everyone here knows that it’s illegal to brandish a firearm in defense of property in VA, right? Google “Commonwealth v. Alexander”. Dude’s lucky he didn’t get an attempted murder charge, actually.

    The VP is right… a shotgun is a better home-defense weapon, as this guy plainly demonstrated. Those burglars took off running and that guy just has to deal with a “reckless use” charge. I fail to see the issue.

  32. You see, he thinks everyone, like him, lives on a huge tract of land with a mansion and no neighbors. He doesn’t realize that someone in an apartment in Phoenix Arizona can’t just ‘pop off’ a few Hail Marry’s and hope for the best. It just shows more of their elitist attitude.

  33. Old Joe’s Coffee: Two shots for safety. Get it while you still have a pot to pi*s in! Obama drinks it every day!

  34. You guys weren’t listening. You have to learn to listen to how the left speaks. Ol’ Double Barrel Joe was only telling people “who had balconies” to do that. So if someone does it from a porch, back yard, garage, hallway, or bedroom, you’re just screwed. If you don’t shoot from the balcony, you’re going to jail buddy.

  35. Damn state laws if it was up to the federal government it would have been okay. Also fire the warning shot second, shoot the SOB in your house first!!!

  36. Ignorance is bliss!! What a bunch of crap. I read through most of these comments. I can’t believe some of the arguments. I don’t care what state you live in, if someone comes into your house uninvited you should have the right to send them home in a body bag. I really don’t care how you go about it, if you wanna take your chances with a baseball bat and assume whom ever it is won’t shoot you that is your own stupidity. I have 3 kids and a wife in my home, the first thing you will answer to is a big ass dog, if she doesn’t think you are ok the next thing won’t be so pleasant. For those of you that don’t think that it is ok to shoot a fleeing criminal, I hope they come to your house next. Hopefully they will tell you they were just at Ralph’s house and he had a gun so we left and came to see you because Ralph said you were an incompetent idiot and you were just sure that if you asked us to leave we would pack up without raping your wife and daughter and excuting you and your son in front of them and then robbing you blind. Of course I am sure you won’t mind, I’ve always heard it is hard to pack your belongings in a coffin. People have absolutely no common sense. Maybe we should be arming all law abiding, God fearing citizens in the US and advertising it all over the world. If you know there is a chance you would be shot dead for not knocking on someones door and using your manners, would you change your thought process on being a criminal?

  37. Good God, who cares who’s right about the legal use of the gun. He used it and he got charged by the police. He will have his day in court. That is American. Get over it. In court, he gets to convince a jury or a judge that he feared for his life, and he will probably claim he is not real intelligent (this is when men act like little girls), and he is ignorant about law cuz he’s not very smart, and he shot out of extreme fear these men were gonna rape his ugly ass. If they believe him, no harm no foul.

    However, in the meantime, if they find the bodies if these strangers (aka intruders) or his wife and kids (aka intruders) or his business parters (aka intruders), buried in the woods, well they already have him in custody.

  38. This took almost two seconds to find. Sounds to me, he did what he did within the law. Good on him. Here in Washington State, I carry a pistol, well holstered, on my hip at ALL times. All day, all night. Home invasions happen, I am an Armed Citizen, I will not be a victim.

    § 18.2-91.1. Use of physical force, including deadly force, against an intruder; justified self-defense.

    Any person who lawfully occupies a dwelling is justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly physical force, against another person when the other person has unlawfully entered the dwelling, having committed an overt act toward the occupant or another person in the dwelling, and the occupant reasonably believes he or another person in the dwelling is in imminent danger of bodily injury.

    Any occupant of a dwelling using physical force, including deadly physical force, as provided in this section shall be immune from civil liability for injuries or death of the other person who has unlawfully entered the dwelling that results from the use of such force.

  39. Maybe the man should have grabbed a whistle, ink pen or a pair of scissors. GRRRRRRRR our country is so SCREWED

    .govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr347/text

  40. Or- his story is a complete cover.
    1. He had his shotgun in his hand and it went off, blowing a hole in his door.
    2. He fires shots out the window to enhance a cover.
    3. Was a weapon recovered?, were suspects flagged by police?- sure they were there quickly.
    4. Shots fired out the window, is not the smartest thing to do and kind of follows a opps,… my door is damaged.

    In this case one only knows one thing- fire arm discharging in residence areas not a good idea.

  42. Biden’s wife Jill would be prosecuted just like David Gregory, the Black Panthers, Obama’s illegal alien aunt and uncle, the various government agents involved in Fast & Furious, . . .

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