Gun Use on Rental Property

[Dennis Day]

Had an incident recent whereby a tenant, who possessed a handgun, used it in an altercation at a property I own. Now, while I would never disallow anyone his Constitutional rights, I'm still in a quandary as to whether or not this use of one constitutes a lawful right to evict.

While the details of the incident are still murky- the police are doing their follow-up investigating- there is some initial possible weight to the tenant's use of a gun for self-defense. After all, the person who was shot by my tenant did come to my tenant's residence for some as of yet unknown purpose. An argument ensued, followed by possible physical use, which resulted in the use of a handgun.

My tenant's girlfriend and their 1-year old toddler were all present during this altercation. I have few other facts to go on at the moment, but the notion that this may have been an act of self-defense is still tugging at me.

Certainly there are endless other means to end an argument that don't involve the use of a handgun, but such was not the case in this incident.

If it were me in this situation, and if it was a case of self-defense (and if the police work lent credence to this), I certainly wouldn't want to face eviction for something I have every right to do.

I don't intend to make any decisions as to what to do with this tenancy until I hear back from the final investigation report as to what exactly happened. I've spoken to some of the neighbors, most of whom saw what happened, but, as often happens to be the case, if you ask ten witnesses what happened, you'll get ten different stories.

What do you all think?

[David Pere]

@Dennis Day My initial thought is wait until you can get a copy of the police report. No use speculating until you have a better understanding of what transpired. Would hate for you be the landlord who ends up in the media for trying to evict somebody who just shot someone in self-defense. (assuming they acted correctly in the eyes of the law)