Calling a state attorney general about firearm laws and recording your phone call?

[GuyWithQuestions]

There are a lot of laws out there. We're supposed to make sure we obey all laws. People say that you should go to a place like packing.org or handgunlaw.us and call up the state attorney general's office and ask about the laws. It seems like there are many ways you can get in serious trouble if you just miss one gun law, and it's your responsibility to know everything! So what if you call the attorney general's office of a certain state and they say one thing and then when you go to the state a law enforcement officer says it's another way and they arrest you? You only wanted self-defense and meant no harm!

I was thinking about possibly taping a call to a state's attorney general's office, and in the states where you're required to by law, tell them that I will be recording. Findlaw.com and my state law say that ignorance of fact is an excuse, unless it's a strict liability law; while ignorance of law is no excuse, unless law officials tell you something else and then you're still not out of trouble but judged on the other standard they gave you if you use that as a defense. Would showing my attorney general's phone recording possibly help in court?

As far as the legality on recording phone calls, I did some research at http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ and found information on the state and interstate laws in the U.S. on recording phone calls, with references, penal code, and court cases to back itself up. It points out that some states are one-party consent (just as long as it's not used for defaming, malicious, or criminal purposes) while others are all-party consent. If you're in a one-party consent state and are calling in the same state, then you only need your own consent if you're recording one of your phone conversations. If you're calling interstate from one state that's only one-party to another that's one-party consent state, then you can't get in trouble legally but the FCC requires your phone company to cut off your services if they find out. If I call a state, like California, that's a multi-party consent state, you have to let them know that you're recording.

My question is, do you think that calling a general attorney and recording could help you out later on? Do you think the general attorney's office would want to talk to you if you mention at the beginning that you'll be recording, or would they just be annoyed and tell you to spend money to get your own lawyer? Is there a better way to learn the laws of various states and back oneself up?

 

[TAB]

I'd send them a letter, a scrap of paper is worth alot more then a recorded phone call.

 

[ants]

TAB is right. Try a letter. But if they don't reply, do the recorded phone call as Plan B. Advise the other party as required by State law, and take it from there.

Will the recorded phone call help in court? Only your legal counselor can tell you for certain. But it may certainly help to keep you out of court if your attorney uses it to avoid charges altogether.

Most importantly, lawfully recording a conversation with the AG's office, for your own review and rumination, will probably make you a more informed citizen. That's the strongest reason for doing it. But try the letter first. TAB is right, it's worth a lot more than a recorded phone call.

 

[green-grizzly]

Estoppel and the like are generally not very useful against the State. The primary way a recording would be useful is if you were trying to get press attention for your case.

I always send confirmation letters after a phone conversation with a bureauratic organization for the same kind of reasons.

 

[El Tejon]

What makes you think they could/would talk to you? What's "state's attorney" is in the business of rendering legal advice to people off the street?

What is a "general attorney"???

 

[ilbob]

i doubt any state's attorney general is going to respond to you in a way you want. they are lawyers for the government. if you want personal legal advice, and that is what you are asking for, they will almost certainly tell you to go ask your own lawyer.

if you want an AG opinion, the ONLY way you will likely be able to get one is to have someone associated with the state get one. in most states there is a list of people who have authority to ask for such an opinion. the list is generally pretty short.

 

[MASTEROFMALICE]

NJ's attorney general wouldn't answer any letters or any phone calls I placed to them. I was simply told they didn't provide legal advice and I'd have to get my own lawyer.

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

I use email. While they don't provide legal advice if you phrase the question correctly you will get a good response. Not will I get arrested if I tranport a loaded magazine or clip... but is there a law or regulation that prohibits or limits transporting loaded magazines or clips in a car?

 

[RNB65]

they are lawyers for the government.

I was simply told they didn't provide legal advice and I'd have to get my own lawyer.

Exactly. A state AG is the lawyer and legal adviser to the state government. They're not there to provide legal advice to citizens and will probably decline to answer any questions you ask.

You can try contacting your local district attorney's office for information on state gun laws. The state police may have info as well. Otherwise, you need to either do your own legal research or talk to a lawyer.
.

 

[ants]

The AG is an important source of information

In California, the Department of Justice (the Attorney General's office) provides a service to advise citizens of certain laws, including firearms laws. It is a service provided by the AG in many states, though not all. In those states providing that service, it is an extremely important source of reliable information. No one is forcing you to call the AG, but if you don't you may be missing out on an excellent resource.

Most states providing that service also have a web site with firearms laws spelled out, including FAQ. Go look it up.

Don't confuse the state Attorney General with your own lawyer. The AG will not advise you on your legal interposition, especially if you are already in trouble. They will merely tell you what state and local laws say on the subject. You use the information to help make your own judgements to keep yourself out of trouble.

If you don't trust the AG, don't call. No one is forcing you.

 

[ilbob]

In California, the Department of Justice (the Attorney General's office) provides a service to advise citizens of certain laws, including firearms laws.

If CA's AG actually provides legal advise to individuals, I would bet it is unique among the 50 states.

They may provide text of statutes that they can point you to. That is pretty common.

 

[GuyWithQuestions]

I'm just worried when crossing state lines

What makes you think they could/would talk to you? What's "state's attorney" is in the business of rendering legal advice to people off the street?

i doubt any state's attorney general is going to respond to you in a way you want. they are lawyers for the government. if you want personal legal advice, and that is what you are asking for, they will almost certainly tell you to go ask your own lawyer.

I was asking because I was wondering what you do when you travel to different states since they have different laws and a local attorney in my area that I could talk to would not be an attorney for the other states as well? The reason I brought up attorney general is some websites say to contact the attorney general for general state laws and some even provided links for them. So I was just wondering what's the best thing to do when traveling through/to different states? Many sources on firearm, pepper spray, and air TASER laws, that aren't government websites have disclaimers like: "I'm not a lawyer and this is general advice but it's your responsibility to find out what the laws are." So what's a reliable way of finding the laws when going to different states? I own pepper spray, an air TASER, and a semi-automatic handgun that holds 16+1 rounds (although I also have a 10 round magazine). My concealed weapons permit works in about 30+ states, even though other states have different laws. If another state or a remote town in the state has passed some law that an air TASER or pepper spray is considered a deadly weapon, since ignorance of law isn't an excuse, I could show all these studies that they're less-lethal than tackling someone and it wouldn't matter to them. Even if the law says that a water spray bottle is a deadly weapon, I would be in trouble, no matter how much sense it may make. If I leave my state, I can't just tell myself to leave the pepper spray, TASER, and handgun at home because there's no reliable way to find out for sure what the laws are, or would it be best to just leave everything home?

 

[ilbob]

It is fairly common for state AGs to have web sites that have lots of good information available, often including links to online sources of state laws.

They sometimes also have FAQs available for common questions, and even online copies of AG opinions.

AFAIK, none of them will allow you to submit a specific legal question and give you an answer for it. They may be able to point you to some online resource, but they won't (and probably by statute can't) give you actual specific legal advice.

The reason you see the IANAL and similar disclaimers on many web sites is because it is generally illegal to give legal advice if you are not a lawyer.

Keep in mind you didn't get legal advice when your driver's ed instructor explained the rules of the road, but they did tell you what the laws actually are.

 

[GuyWithQuestions]

For example

For example: I just bought a C2 TASER (the newest civilian air TASER version out). On the package it says "TASER devices are not considered firearms by the U.S. government. They can be legally carried (concealed or open) without a permit required in 40+ states. Prohibited citizen use in DC, HI, MA, MI, RI, NY, NJ, WI & certain cities & counties. CT AND IL legal with restrictions. Check local laws on carrying electronic control devices."

Then I went to answers.yahoo.com and saw a question about the legality of air TASERs and one person said that in the state of California air TASERs legally are considered firearms and another person said that they're illegal in the state that they're from, Florida. I was looking at a policeone.com article on TASERs and it said that South Bend City in the state of Indiana passed a local ordinance making them illegal unless at the place of residence while every other city in St. Joseph County has them legal for civilians to carry.

Every place says that ignorance of the law is no excuse and that it's your responsibility to know the law, but no one wants to tell you the law because they're not a lawyer and an attorney general wouldn't want to tell you either, so how do you find out where they're legal and where they're not? If you go on vacation through several states, you could be passing through hundreds and hundreds of cities. If you call the hundreds and hundreds of police stations, many of them may say that they don't give out legal advice because they're not lawyers and so they may say "We the police are not going to tell you if air TASERs are legal in our city or not. Come to our city and you'll find out if we actually arrest you or not." It sounds like it's virtually impossible to know where they're legal and where they're not. So what do you do?

 

[MASTEROFMALICE]

In California, the Department of Justice (the Attorney General's office) provides a service to advise citizens of certain laws, including firearms laws.

Of course they do. It's so easy for them when the answer is always, "NO."

 

[KBintheSLC]

I think the best thing to do is to read all of the gun-related code for your State on your own. If you get misinformed by the attorney general's office, and you record it, you are not going to walk away with no charges. At best, you could come back later and attempt to sue them in civil court for damages brought forth by your incarceration. However, I highly doubt it will get your charges dropped. Remember, ignorance/misinformation is never a defense against prosecution.

 

[ilbob]

CT AND IL legal with restrictions.

The main restriction being that in Illinois it is considered a firearm, and cannot be carried around. It would need to be unloaded and put in a gun case just to take it off your own property.

 

[Brent J]

I agree. A letter is worth more than a recording.

 

[Regolith]

Recording the phone call might put you afoul of state wiretapping laws. This obviously depends on your state, and some are far more restrictive than others. You might want to look into that. I know some states restrict the recording of conversations without the other party's knowledge or permission, and with some states that may include public officials specifically.

 

[Jaenak]

Chances are that when you mention that you want to record the conversation they'll get really uncomfortable and try to hang up on you. After all, if it's on tape then there's alot of liability on their end. They'll simply tell you to talk to a lawyer.

 

[GuyWithQuestions]

Chances are that when you mention that you want to record the conversation they'll get really uncomfortable and try to hang up on you. After all, if it's on tape then there's alot of liability on their end. They'll simply tell you to talk to a lawyer.

That's the main thing that I'm worried about; they might get uncomfortable.

Some states have one-party consent while others like California are multi-party consent states. I live in Utah where you only need the consent from one party involved on the phone in order to record. Which in my case I could just use my consent since I'm on the phone and don't have to tell the person on the other end. In California, however, that's so illegal, along with many many other things being so. Source: http://www.rcfp.org/taping/ (links to actual state code and court cases)