LEBANON, Pa. - A mother who angered fellow parents when she wore a holstered pistol at her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game got her concealed weapons permit back yesterday after a judge overruled a sheriff’s decision to revoke it.
Meleanie Hain testified that she did not intend to intimidate anyone, but felt she had to carry the gun openly because warm-weather clothing made it difficult to hide a firearm, and she wanted to be able to reach it more easily if she needed to defend herself from an attacker. She said her husband’s line of work, which was not disclosed, made her a “greater target” than the average person.
Lebanon County Court Judge Robert Eby said the law required him to return Hain’s permit. But he also questioned her judgment, saying she “scared the devil” out of others at the soccer field.
Hain lost the permit after other parents complained last month that she was openly carrying a loaded and holstered handgun at her daughter’s soccer game.
Hain testified that she has openly carried the gun while shopping, visiting friends, and attending other youth soccer games and practices.
“I’m certainly not looking to shoot anyone over a goal,” she told Eby.
Hain said she expected to return to the sidelines - with her gun - at a youth soccer game in the future.
“People have the right to voice their opinion . . . and I have a right to my Second Amendment right,” she said. “A gun-free zone says to a criminal: ‘Easy target.’ ”
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Source: Philadelphia Enquirer Link filed under Weird US News
