Charles Foehner was walking to his home in Queens during the early morning hours on May 31, 2023, when he was confronted by a mugger, Cody Gonzalez, who threatened to harm him. Foehner pulled out a gun and shot the 32-year-old in the chest, killing him. Within days, Foehner was arraigned on multiple gun charges. Gonzalez, unsurprisingly, had multiple prior arrests and a history of mental illness.
Following his trial, Foehner will spend four years behind bars for the crime of defending himself in New York City.
Queens senior citizen who fatally shot would-be mugger headed to prison for four years https://t.co/APWcddbaJz pic.twitter.com/GnK6fuxD4t
— New York Post (@nypost) November 20, 2025
A Queens senior citizen who shot dead a man who tried to rob him will spend four years in prison after admitting to toting an unlicensed revolver — as his lawyer ripped the city’s “draconian” gun laws.
Charles Foehner, 67, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal weapons possession Thursday in a deal to end his case more than two years after he fatally shot would-be thief Cody Gonzalez, who charged at him near his Kew Gardens home.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office chose not to prosecute Foehner, a retired doorman, for Gonzalez’s killing after he told cops that he’d defended himself from a mugger who lunged at him late at night holding what looked like a knife — but which turned out to be a pen.
But prosecutors slapped Foehner with a slew of weapons raps for the unlicensed handgun and for an arsenal of illicit handguns, revolvers and rifles inside his home in the quiet neighborhood.
It's insane.
No second amendment right or right to self defense in NYS/NYC - they’ll take four years in the end part of this guy’s life away from him because they’re upset he protected himself. https://t.co/TLLyziITn0
— ib (@Indian_Bronson) November 21, 2025
That's what this boils down to. Daniel Penny didn't use a gun when he protected people on the subway. He engaged in self-defense and was prosecuted for it.
You're supposed to get mugged without complaint https://t.co/69n3xtff9K
— Scott Greer 6’2” IQ 187 (@ScottMGreer) November 20, 2025
Or set on fire on the subway.
Anarchotyranny is where the mugger will be released lots of times before you stop him, and then you face prison time for snuffing out that threat to civilized society https://t.co/0Izkgcam7J
— Will Tanner (@Will_Tanner_1) November 21, 2025
That's exactly what this is, anarchotyranny.
This is heinous. A violent repeat offender with 15 prior arrests was shot while trying to rob an elderly man. The elderly man exercised his 2A right of self defense and will now spend 4 years in prison because New York didn't give him permission to own his revolver. https://t.co/sBZpoQBQXI
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 20, 2025
Heinous is the right word to describe it.
Guess what "international law" believes about a 2nd Amendment? The same thing "International law" believes about the 1st. https://t.co/mLdsCAo1DL
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) November 21, 2025
Mamdani believes in "international law," and that's a problem for everyone.
Killing "people" who try to rob, rape, or hurt you is good actually.
— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) November 21, 2025
Live where this is known. https://t.co/tIci5KXZ2Z
New York City is not one of those places.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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