imported post
This is my first post on this forum. I have been reading things here as well as some other forums. So much info and so few hours. I have just finished reading the 8 pages on this thread and let me just start by saying that my mind is
[align=center]exploding!
[/align][align=left]I will not be able to express my thoughts as eloquently as so many of you have, so you will just need to bear with me. I would like to say that the OP and everybody that is a member of the Open Carry Community has guts. You are to be commended, but that is not why my mind is exploding. When I read the story of what happened and the outcome, my blood was boiling. When I read some of the responses, that is when the exploding happened. There are so many things that I would like to comment on. I hope I can do so without bouncing all over the place.[/align][align=left]
[/align][align=left]1. The cop with the mouth is a punk and needs to be taught a lesson. If that means a complaint, law suit, training, etc., it is the choice of demnogis. This is not a cop bashing post so don't get your panties is a bunch. Some of the things that officer said were very disturbing. He thinks that he knows the law and is above it. Those are the type of people that should not be wearing a badge. Some examples.[/align]a) "I told the officer that I also had my voice recorder on me, that it was recording. I was not able to see his badge or nametag at this time. He interrupted and told me that it was illegal for me to be recording our interaction because as an individual he has civil rights too[sup](1)[/sup]. I started to explain that since he is working in his official capacity as a public servant it is not illegal to record our interaction in public. He insisted that it was illegal."
b) "Officer 1 asks me what I was doing coming into his town carrying guns."
c) "He insisted that he knew firearms laws better than anyone else in his department."
d) "I asked him if I could speak to his seargant. Officer 1 again affirmed that he knows more than his seargant does about firearms laws."
Let's start with
a). He is ignorant of the law about recording and worried about HIS CIVIL RIGHTS while he proceeds to abuse your civil rights.
b) HIS TOWN. Give me a break. How do you defend that attitude? This is where we find out that he is not only ignorant, he's an a-hole.
c) If you ever meet someone that knows or can do anything better than everybody else, WATCH OUT!
d) After he released you in front of the Sgt. I would have asked why you were arrested. If he knew everything better than everyone else INCLUDING the SGT., why not educate the SGT.
Then he has the nerve to say this.
"What this is, is a technicality. You were right and I was wrong. I thought I knew the law but I didn't. I'm very, very sorry that this happened and that we took up so much of your time. We're going to give you all of your things back, dust you off and send you on your way. Hopefully nothing bad will come of this. Again, I apologize, you were correct about the law and I wasn't. I had thought that you couldn't have loaded magazines and a firearm on you." -
The only thing that didn't happen is him asking you to pull you pants down so he could kiss your butt up close and personal.
If you are a LEO, it is your DUTY to know the law. If ignorance of the law won't get us out of a ticket or jail, it shouldn't get you off the hook for your abuse.
Some of you have said that they acted in good faith and no damage, no harm or how about they said sorry when they found out they were wrong(violated your civil rights). SHAME ON YOU! Next time you are speeding and slow down when you see the police and they pull you over, just tell them you are sorry. See if you get a ticket.
Try that one for a firearms violation, let me know how that one goes.
People defend them and say that there are a few bad ones here and there. WRONG! Police departments a starving for officers and are lowering their standards and more than a few bad ones are getting through. My opinion means nothing, so take it for what it's worth. As long as the police have power over us do whatever they see fit until they get caught, we need to hold them to a higher standard. When they abuse that power, there needs to be punishment. If they want to keep there job with the city, move them to parks to mow lawns or maybe DPW to work fixing the sewer pipes.
I have a whole bunch more to say, but I'll end it here. You can stop clapping now.
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