GILBERTON -- The attorney for the police chief suspended for firing guns stopped his questions when the metal clattered against the concrete.

The termination hearing for former Chief Mark Kessler that had been going on for more than 90 minutes stopped. The crowd in the cramped borough building turned its attention to Dave Zimmerman, one of Kessler's supporters, who leaned over to pick his pistol up off the floor.

"It fell out of its holster," Zimmerman told the room, standing 2 feet behind Kessler and his lawyer, Joseph Nahas.

"You've got to get out of here," Nahas told Zimmerman, who walked out of the room with his head down.

At that, hearing officer Sam Falcone had seen enough. Before the hearing began, Falcone had been uncomfortable with the packed room. He asked people to move so no one would be standing behind him. Since the Kessler saga began this summer -- after Kessler posted videos of himself firing automatic weapons and cursing out President Barack Obama, among others -- his supporters have made a point of exercising their Second Amendment rights at and around the Borough Council building. Now that one gun had come out, even if accidentally, Falcone called the attorneys into a side room.

They returned minutes later, and Nahas and borough counsel Jake Dean made a joint statement.

Noting the crowded nature of the ricochet-friendly room, Nahas said it would be dangerous if someone dropped a loaded gun on the hard floor. Accidents with firearms happen, he said. Kessler's lawyer said he was concerned for his safety and the safety of everyone else in the room.

So the two sides agreed to suspend the hearing until they can reconvene in the Schuylkill County Courthouse, when everyone can have a seat and there will be security present.

"When I'm doing cross-examination," Nahas said, "there can't be weapons falling behind me."

A date has not yet been set to continue the hearing. Nahas said it will likely not be for another two weeks, at least.

Even before the hearing started, Falcone seemed uncomfortable with the crowd pressing in. He asked people to move, saying he didn't feel comfortable with anyone standing over his shoulder.

Zimmerman was one of a few people to travel from Bucks County to support Kessler, whom they called a friend. Before the hearing, they stood in the rain outside the tiny borough building and said the people who only knew of Kessler through his videos didn't know the real Mark, a caring family man.

Afterward, Zimmerman said the gun didn't have a bullet in the chamber but did have the safety on. He could have slammed it against a wall, he said, and it wouldn't have been able to go off.

"It's an inanimate object," he said, "it can't do anything."

Before all that, there was a hearing.

The borough meeting room -- solid floor, cinderblock walls, steel filing cabinets, big enough to park a pickup, but not two -- was jammed with people, most from somewhere other than Gilberton. Cameras, both traditional media and people shooting for YouTube, ringed the table where Falcone, Kessler and attorneys for both sides sat. To see, one man stood on a chair and balanced himself with an umbrella.

Had Zimmerman's gun never hit the pavement, that hearing would likely have gone well into the night.

In his opening statement, Nahas said most of the charges Gilberton leveled against Kessler were trumped up by the borough's lawyers because the council was upset Kesser chose to "shoot a weapon and use the F-word" in videos he posted online.

The night's only witness, Gilberton Mayor Mary Lou Hannon testified Kessler didn't file the required Gilberton's Unified Crime Report with state police, as required by law, for 2012 or through his suspension in 2013. When the state police notified Hannon -- by then, Kessler was suspended -- she testified she filed the 2012 reports in about an hour, without any training.

Nahas countered Gilberton did not have any reported crime in 2012. Hannon said the borough still has to file the reports or risk losing out on grant money.

Hannon read a transcript purporting to be of Kessler's radio show (Nahas said they couldn't have known it was actually Kessler's voice) from Aug. 26 that contained vulgar comments about borough officials.

It was evidence, Hannon said, of Kessler's vile and belligerent statements that made him ineligible to serve as police chief.

The two sides also disagreed over tires Kessler bought for his Hummer through the state's COSTAR program, which allows municipalities to buy equipment at a discount, without paying taxes. Gilberton contends Kessler didn't have permission to buy through the program, and could have gotten the borough barred from using COSTAR.

Nahas argued Kessler used his Hummer to patrol the borough when Gilberton's cruiser was in the shop, and he bought the tires with the borough's permission. He was pressing Hannon about the COSTAR program when the gun fell, and the hearing ended.

The videos that made Kessler infamous in some circles and a gun-rights hero in others were barely mentioned.

Theoretically, the postponement favors Kessler, since his attorney has now heard Gilberton's argument. In reality, that doesn't matter. Nahas acknowledged as much in the rain afterward.

"I think council is going to terminate Mr. Kessler no matter what the officer's finding," Nahas said.

Falcone's ruling is just a recommendation for the council. Members can still vote to terminate Kessler, no matter what Falcone suggests.

Once Kessler is officially fired, Nahas said he will likely sue the borough.

Then this case would wind up before a judge, in a courthouse, where guns will not be allowed.