Show this story to anyone who thinks registration and discretionary licensing are common sense measures. The Brookline police are using the flimsiest of causes to deny permits and disarm their citizens, including a U.S. Army 2nd lieutenant, a domestic violence victim, and a man whose guns were confiscated despite his willingness to store them at the police station.
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"I feel like I've been targeted," said Lau, whose gun license was unceremoniously stripped in a visit Brookline Police Sgt. Michael Raskin made to Lau's workplace to confiscate a firearm kept at work in a safe. "I felt [Raskin] treated me like a criminal," Lau said.
Lau acknowledged that a teenage son living in his home had had some scrapes with the law, and recalled being told by Raskin, "In my opinion, your home is not safe for firearms."
Lau said he had told Brookline Police that he would agree to store his three pistols at police headquarters, if that would result in a renewal of his license to carry.
"They told me that would not be necessary," Lau said.
According a June 2003 letter from the police department, the decision to revoke Kang Lu's gun license was based on a series of four unrelated reasons.
The first was a bizarre incident at the Coolidge Corner Library during which Lu, a regular visitor to the library, said he preferred to study there in the brightest part of the building. "I like it well lit," he said.
But on a weekday afternoon in June 2002, Lu said a library staff member approached him and said he had to leave his study table because he was told it was in the "children's section." He noted that no children were in that section of the library, but was told to leave the area anyway.
"I told the librarian 'If you believe I'm violating a law, call the police and see what they say.'"
A short time later, police arrived at the library, and Lu said officers told him that he was violating library policy and could be cited for trespassing if he did not clear the area. Lu then agreed to leave the children's section and the matter ended with no arrests and no other consequences, or so Lu thought.
In a June 24, 2003, letter to Lu from O'Leary, however, "the facts surrounding the incident you were involved in at the Coolidge Corner Library" was listed as the first among the reasons why Lu's license to carry was pulled.
The other reasons included what police allege were: "false statements" made on Lu's license application to Sgt. Raskin and other Brookline Police officers; "noise complaints in [Lu's] building;" and his "seeking counseling for psychological problems in April of 2003."
But the "false statements," Lu said, weren't false at all. One allegation had to do with his characterizing his occupation as an "active duty" officer in the U.S. Army. Raskin later concluded that Lu was an Army reservist, which he considered a "false statement." But an Army official was prepared to testify in court on Tuesday that Lu was considered to have active scholarship status in the Army as a medical student.
As for noise complaints, Lu said the accusation was preposterous. "There are at least 100 people who live in my building, and most of the time I'm out studying so I'm not there anyway."
In the instance of his seeking psychological counseling, Lu said Brookline Police had asked him if he had engaged in any therapy in the past. He told police about one visit he made in April 2003, the subject of which to discuss the stress of medical school. Having divulged information about the one therapy session, the police then used Lu's admission against him, citing it in the decision to revoke his license to carry.
"I've dealt with perhaps 50 police departments in the area on [gun ownership] issues, but I've never encountered the abuse of authority I've seen in Brookline," said Cohen.
