"Don't fire a warning shot" may not be one of the basic rules of gun safety, but its still regularly preached by firearm instructors for a number of reasons. In some jurisdictions, a warning shot could lead to criminal charges for unlawful discharge of a firearm, but rounds fired up into the air or down towards the ground can also inadvertently hit an unintended target. And from a self-defense standpoint, firing a gun as a warning, rather than to stop an imminent threat against human life, might actually embolden an assailant to escalate their attack.
In almost every circumstance, firing a warning shot is a bad idea. But one sheriff in New York is defending the warning shots he fired on New Years Eve in an attempt to break up a fight.
Lewis County Sheriff Mike Carpinelli is defending his decision to fire three warning shots from his personal pistol to break up a fight during New Year’s Eve celebrations, saying he took the appropriate action to prevent serious injuries.
The incident happened at the Osceola Hotel in the town of Osceola at the southern end of Lewis County. According to Carpinelli, a fight broke out between locals and men from neighboring Oneida County.
“It was a nice evening, there was a lot of very nice people at a good event when a few bad actors showed up to change that,” Carpinelli said.
Carpinelli said he initially tried to intervene verbally when he saw the altercation.
“One of the individuals came towards my vehicle. I got out of my vehicle, explained who I was, told them to back up. At that point, another 5 to 8 people jumped in on top of the five that were fighting,” he said.
Carpinelli says once the fight escalated to the point that some people were being kicked as they lay on the ground, he grabbed his pistol from his truck and fired three warning shots in an attempt to break up the fight. The tactic worked, according to the sheriff, who added that the remote location where the fight took place influenced his decision. Carpinelli had already called for backup from a variety of nearby law enforcement agencies, but says it took a hour for additional officers to respond to the scene.
Many police departments have policies that ban outright the use of warning shots, but Carpinelli says the sheriff's department isn't one of them. And given Carpinelli's position, I doubt that the local prosecutor is going to charge him with unlawful discharge of a firearm or a similar offense.
For what its worth, the sheriff seems to be supportive of the Second Amendment. After the terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California in 2015, Carpinelli encouraged lawful gun owners in the county to start carrying for self-defense and defense of others. In 2020, Carpinelli was supportive of efforts to declare Lewis County a Second Amendment Sanctuary, calling organizers of the effort "fantastic like-minded citizens that have finally had enough with the Albany bureaucracy."
In fact, Carpinelli is so supportive of Second Amendment issues that one local paper ran a hit piece on him in 2023, accusing him of treading down a "far-right path."
We wanted to figure out how he went down this path — how he aligned himself with a far-right, anti-government movement — and why his politics resonate with so many people.
One thing was immediately clear. Gun rights play a central role in that story.
In the wake of the Sandy Hook mass shooting in December 2012 — when 20 children and six adults were massacred at an elementary school in Connecticut — New York passed the SAFE Act. The new gun law banned high-capacity magazines and created a registry for assault weapons in the state, among other tight restrictions.
Like many conservatives in the North Country, Carpinelli came out against the legislation. He rallied in Albany and, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, said he would not enforce the SAFE Act.
Signs calling for the law to be repealed popped up all over the North Country. Carpinelli’s hardline stance resonated, and still resonates, with people in Lewis County.
“He’s a good man for the Second Amendment,” said Gene Stanford from Port Leyden, “and in this area, that’s a big thing. That’s a big plus.”
“To my knowledge, yes, there’s some laws he don’t have to deal with,” Stanford added. “Because he works for us, this is why he’s doing what he’s doing.”
Carpinelli's political views and support for the Second Amendment are likely a big reason why the local media is so interested in his warning shots on New Year's Eve.
I still think warning shots are a bad idea, for all of the reasons outlined above. In this particular case, though, it does sound like they had their intended effect. The sheriff was able to de-escalate the violence, and in a situation where he was the only law enforcement officer facing a pretty large number of angry and aggressive individuals. Still, I'd caution gun owners about following Carpinelli's example, and honestly, it wouldn't be a bad idea for the sheriff to do the same.
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