Fargo Pawn Shop Employee Pleads Guilty To Shooting At Robber

You see it in the TV shows and in the movies, some armed thug robs a joint and runs out and jumps in his car for a quick getaway. It better be quick, because the enraged shopkeep managed to find his own gun and comes busting out the front door screaming threats with barrels blazing shooting at the robber's car that is rapidly exiting the scene. It happened something like that back in June in Fargo, that'll teach that S.O.B. not to mess with Mister Money!

It's also is misdemeanor reckless endangerment and you'll be charged- even in North Dakota!

Didn't we just cover this in the last North Dakotan Legislative session? Didn't Doug Burgum back in April sign North Dakota's "Stand Your Ground" bill into law, therefore not requiring victims to retreat when threatened- even in public areas? You bet he did!

“Over half of U.S. states have ‘stand your ground’ laws, and now ... so does North Dakota,” the Republican governor said in a statement “We’ll always protect our Second Amendment rights and our state’s constitutional right ‘to keep and bear arms for the defense of their person, family, property, and the state.’”

Stand Your Ground is an expansion of the so-called "Castle Doctrine" which is the home defense law allowing people to defend their homes with lethal force. Our new stand your ground laws allowed you to lethally defend yourself wherever you may be. You don't have to retreat.

But if the person you are defending yourself against is in fact now driving away, that doesn't fit the spirit of the law.

So the gun-wielding Fargo pawnshop employee has pled guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor reckless endangerment. He received a relatively light sentence...

Cass County States Attorney Birch Burdick says the plea agreement for Kyle Ramsey calls for 360 days of unsupervised probation and $325.00 in court fees. If Ramsey successfully completes probation, the case will be dismissed and the file will be sealed 61 days later.

No doubt many of y'all reading this believe Mr. Ramsey was 100% justified in his actions. He did claim he was just shooting out the rear car windows so the escaping car could be easily identifiable.

Back in 2017, a bill WAS introduced in North Dakota to make this type of response legal.

The bill would have allowed the use of deadly force even if it is to “prevent an unlawful carrying away or damaging of property.” The measure would have allowed for deadly force response to even misdemeanor actions that didn't present a threat to the shooter. That didn't go over well with clergy, lawyers, lawmakers, or people that didn't want teen troublemakers run over or shot on a regular basis. It was given a "do not pass" recommendation by the State House back in 2017.