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Okay, let's take another thing turns out fine by itself but might cause harm with irresponsible behavior. If I discharge a gun at my spacious property while poi

• pdonis 6y ago
  > If I discharge a gun at my spacious property while pointing it at someone and miss, should I be punishable for attempted manslaughter or a similar offense? Were you firing it at someone on purpose? Or did you just not realize you were pointing it at someone? If you were firing it at someone on purpose, even if you didn't hit them, that's already a common law crime: in most jurisdictions it's called assault with a deadly weapon or something similar. Whether it would also qualify as attempted manslaughter would depend on your intent: were you actually trying to kill them, or just scare them? If you just didn't realize you were pointing it at someone, and you didn't cause any harm, you should not be liable for any offense. But if I were the someone you were pointing the gun at, I would do my level best to avoid all further interaction with you since you're clearly a careless and irresponsible person. I would also spread the word amongst the neighbors so they know it too.