Part Two; I almost got arrested

     The officers then took turns telling me that it was illegal to discharge a firearm within
city limits.  The female officer told me that I would definitely receive a citation. The
only question would be whether it would be a "courtesy" citation or an official citation
where I would be arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail.
     Obviously I was more interested in getting a courtesy citation.  The female officer
further stated that they would have to check with the police captain to determine whether
I was going to jail.  I wasn't happy about this because the captain was not on site and I
believe it is a lot more difficult to make a decision by "remote control" so to speak.  The male
officer continued to talk to us while the female had a radio conversation with the captain
out of our earshot.  He explained that we would both have to write a statement, and explain
what had happened.  He further told us that our options were better than shooting, such as
using a hoe or a shovel, or even better, call animal control.
     In my mind only, I went over the options one by one and discounted their effectiveness
given the situation.  Hoes, shovels, rakes, or other implements, in my opinion, do not have
the effectiveness of a spray of double aught buckshot.  Calling animal control didn't occur to me
when the snake was on his way toward me and I had about four feet with which to separate
myself from the snake and make a phone call.
     Was it a stupid decision, to shoot the snake?  Yes and no.  The stupid part comes from
shooting within the city limits.  I could be short sighted on this but I have difficulty under-
standing why criminals get to do whatever they want regarding the use of guns, where, when,
and for whatever reason they want, but if I use a weapon safely, to potentially protect my
life, it's a problem.  I don't want to get on a rant or debate with anyone about gun laws,
but common sense almost doesn't exist any more. Sometimes it prevails, but not often
enough.

     At this point the female officer was wrapping up her conversation with the captain.
When I heard her say "Ok, good, that's fine. Will do. Thank you sir."I was slightly
encouraged.  Fortunately my encouragement was supported by what happened next.
She looked at us and said "Okay, the captain has decided that you're not going to be
arrested.  She then proceeded to tell us for the fourth or fifth time that we had heard it
all the reasons why I should not have done what I did.  Although my wife and I are
both unfiltered, we are not stupid and so we wisely kept our mouths shut for the
duration of this event and bit the bullet, bad pun I know, and it turned out to our
advantage.
     At this point I could go on and on until you are sick of hearing it, either agreeing with
me or not, whether this was the right decision.  It was. End of debate. And wow, is that
Mossberg sweet!