We live in a small place, the nation’s shortest coastline, and we have joined a bunch of minority groups (veterans, gun people, writers, defense contractors, musicians, bike riders, etc., etc.) further narrowing our social horizons. Therefore, ours is a small world, and there are not that many people, for example, active in our small gun club. (We’re not really “active.” Gun club politics don’t interest us, we’re just in it for a place to shoot). So imagine the shock here at Hog Manor South when we’re reading the hometown news and find a link that baits us to click it, thinking there’ll be a Don’t Be That Guy story in it. We’re not sure what we were expecting, but we were pretty shocked to learn that we knew that guy.

The headlines in a couple of the New Hampster papers were things like these:

• SWAT team called for ‘suicide by cop’ threat
• Judge grants taking guns from SWAT subject’s shop

We forget what the heads were in the Union Leader, but they were the same kind of thing. To the extent we understand the facts of the case:

1. There was an alleged domestic assault with minor injury
2. Followed by attempts to contact the victim against her wishes
3. Followed by a suicide (not homicide) threat. The individual was known to own guns.
4. The police called the emergency resource team out, the guys suited up and warmed up the Bearcat.
5. The suspect surrendered with no further drama.
6. The police asked the judge to give them a warrant to take the suspect’s guns.
7. The suspect agreed to permit them to do that, the judge signed the warrant, the police took about 13 guns into safekeeping.

We don’t know George well but he’s been an officer of the small Seacoast club mentioned in the articles, and we once visited him in his small, crowded shop. We know the other people quoted in the article. (It was a surprise to hear that one had had a LTC denied in NH. That’s extremely rare. The guy in question is the most dedicated and hardest working volunteer the club has).

One thing that is clear is that the police didn’t overreact, and they resolved the issue with the least possible fuss, really. (Remember, a nearby town lost a police chief during an ordinary-police-work-nothin’-special arrest warrant for a no-account small time dealer, so the cops here would be understood if they were jumpy. But they weren’t jumpy, just professional). Likewise, the prosecutors don’t seem to have overcharged the case. It’s a domestic case, and if George is convicted of the charges, all misdemeanors, then his right to own firearms is gone for life, which is probably the severest penalty they can inflict, knowing him.

And really, it’s his own fault.

No guns seem to have been involved in his offense, the police just applied an abundance of caution because he was known to own guns (many people thought he owned more than he did because of his activism on the issue), and especially because he mouthed off with a threat.

A lot of the facts of the case have not been released, or have been munged by the media if so. Still, we can draw a few conclusions. It is very clear that Judgment Juice in extratherapeutic dosages were involved, and it’s equally clear that our acquaintance has made a horse’s ass of himself, and brought on a great deal of trouble. We won’t make excuses for the man. He screwed up and now has to face the court — that’s the way these things are supposed to go.

It’s very bizarre to see names of people you know in a criminal case article. Perhaps we were overdue for a reminder that these are real, three-dimensional people in these stories and that their lives go on, although they’re sometimes never the same after such an event.

And perhaps people need to bear in mind that there are great pleasures to be found in guns, booze, and significant others — but not all at the same time, and not all of the two-way combinations are a good idea.

Right about now, George could probably tell you that.