When John Gammon was sleeping in his cabin in upstate New York, he was awoken by a black bear. Gammon fired a warning shot to frighten the bear, which was pulling the plywood from the cabin door, but that didn't deter it, so he shot the bear, killing it. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation then charged him with illegally taking a bear during a closed season, with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, and with reckless endangerment, the last two charges both misdemeanors that could land Gammon behind bars.

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