Matter of DeAngelo v. Burns

In Matter of DeAngelo v. Burns (124 AD3d 1156 [3d Dept 2015]) the Court upheld the Otsego County Judge's revocation of petitioner's pistol permit. There the petitioner had a long-standing feud with his neighbors. "This long-standing discord apparently extended to a four-year-old child who resided with the neighbors, who purportedly would 'flip [petitioner] off' every time he passed by the neighbors' house" (DeAngelo at 1156). On the day of the incident, he let the girl's mother know that her child was "not very ladylike" (id. at 1157). Later the same day, as petitioner approached the neighbors' house in his truck, the neighbors purportedly blocked the road with their vehicle and a verbal altercation ensued. One of the neighbors displayed a baseball-size rock and petitioner displayed his loaded handgun. Petitioner was charged, and later acquitted, of two counts of menacing in the second degree. The Third Department, in reviewing the record, noted that the judge asked the respondent why he did not simply back up, to which petitioner replied, "I didn't think of it" (id. at 1158 n 1).