Manor Township, PA — A dispute among neighbors has ended in court after one man pointed his finger at his neighbor and pulled an imaginary trigger and pretended to simulate recoil.
The neighbors hadn’t gotten along for some time, according to police.
Stephen Kirchner, 64, was charged with disorderly conduct after he made the gesture at an unnamed neighbor during an argument across their yards.
Kirchner claimed the neighbor had flipped him the bird with both hands, so he responded with the ‘finger gun’ gesture.
This should have all been laughed off, but several neighbors who witnessed the horror of a finger gun were “extremely threatened” and called 911.
The case made it to a Pennsylvania Superior Court.
At trial, Kirchner argued that his gesture was no big deal.
The District Attorney released a statement saying that Kirchner defense was that his gesture, “…did not cause a hazardous of physically offensive condition, that he did not intend to cause public alarm, and there was essentially no harm done to the victim or society.”
But no, believing that would be too 1995!
We need to panic about things that our parents and grandparents would have laughed about!
The Pennsylvania high court found that Kirchner’s gesture “risked an altercation” and they backed the charge against him.
What added to their decision was that several neighbors who had witnessed the event felt “insecure” after Kirchner’s terrifying move.
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Kirchner was found guilty and ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs.
Let us just say: people who are “extremely threatened” by a ‘gun finger gesture’ might want to avoid school playgrounds at recess time.
They should especially avoid children who might be playing cops and robbers.
And Mr. Kirchner, it might be time to move to a place where people are slightly less out of touch with reality.
Maybe a warmer climate, with fewer snowflakes?