Man Fires Gun To Scare Away Magazine Salesmen, Cops Allege

Few people particularly warm and fuzzy sensations when a magazine-subscription salesman comes to the door. But not many people take the measures that Mark A. Molenaar allegedly took to get rid of them, either.

Two solicitors told McHenry County Sheriff's Department officers that, when they approached Molenaar's house, he pulled out a revolver and fired a shot into the ground in an attempt to scare them off, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

It worked: the salesmen fled his property, according to the Northwest Herald.

Molenaar, who lives in an unincorporated area near Fox River Grove, 40 miles northwest of Chicago, is now charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony. He admits that he brandished the gun, but argues that it went of by accident.

Upon arriving at the scene, the suburban Daily Herald reports, officers searched Molenaar's home and found several more firearms. He did not have a valid Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card, so the weapons were all seized.

After posting $1,500 in bail, Molenaar is free to walk until June 17, when he is due back in court. He apparently isn't in the market for any reading material to pass the time.