Interesting LEO encounter while target shooting...

[FourNineFoxtrot]

Sunday, my friend and I packed up some guns and drove upcountry to do some shooting. Our intended range was an abandoned rock quarry, where we'd been before and where many locals go to shoot. Unfortunately, we found that the forestry service locks the gate this time of year, despite the lack of snow. Determined to get some shooting done, we went to a back-up spot a few miles away, still on BLM land, and still a legal shooting area. Not as much room here, so it was pistols only.

So a little while later, I'm happily shooting a cylinder of .38s out of my Taurus snubby, when I hear a voice behind me that isn't my friend's voice. Startled, I turn around, and find a Deputy Sheriff standing there, telling me to put the gun down. I do so, and step away, hands away from my sides.

The Deputy proceeded to check us both for additional guns in our waistbands, run our I.D's, and check the registration on our guns. I asked if we'd done something wrong, and the Deputy replied that maybe we hadn't, if our guns and I.D's checked out. Eventually, we passed inspection, and the Deputy left.

Is it normal for cops, when they come across people putting holes in paper out in the woods, to halt shooting (and make sure everyone's disarmed) while they verify that everything is nice and legal? Is it, perhaps, because my friend and I are younger guys? Or is it just that we suffer the misfortune of living in California?

 

[cambeul41]

Perhaps you might ask, in writing and as politely as is humanly possible, the deputy's superior for "clarification" of the situation.

Make it clear that you do not want to do anything wrong, but since you were treated as suspects . . . .

 

[bogie]

Did you get his name?

Stop by, and tell his boss that you didn't really appreciate his whole "guilty until proven innocent" demeanor.

 

[Leanwolf]

What part of Calif., and what was the Sheriff's Dept., to which the Deputy belonged???

L.W.

 

[Just Jim]

Bad guys practice too, how does he know if your good or bad till he checks you out??

Myself and two friends went out on BLM land to shoot a bit. Had a LEO drive up and look us over and watch us shoot a bit. I offered him a chance to shoot my full auto UZI but he said he didn't have time and thanked me for the offer. After we were done we cleaned the area spotless and went home.

Guess I live in a different part of the world.

jj

 

[El Tejon]

This is all? Nothing more (drinking, loud music, etc.)? And the reasonable suspicion for the stop was . . . . ?

 

[Scorpiusdeus]

As a fellow CA resident I'm going to guess that it's more likely here than other states with more liberal gun laws and more hunters and shooters.

Just the same, I have been out shooting and seen Deputies drive by and take a peek, but they never contacted us.

 

[Titan6]

I think you go it right Foxtrot.

Young, armed and in California you are a suspect.

 

[poor_richard]

This is all? Nothing more (drinking, loud music, etc.)? And the reasonable suspicion for the stop was . . . . ?

That's what first came to my mind.

 

[FourNineFoxtrot]

I did not get the Deputy's name, but this happened in Amador County, in Northern California. I don't believe that reporting the Deputy would accomplish anything, as this seems to be SOP for the SO. Moreover, she was professional, polite, and even friendly to a degree. I don't find fault with her performance of her duties, I find fault with, or at least am discomfited by, the duties she performed. Mostly, I was just wondering whether this is common.

And, no, there was no music or drinking. Just gunfire. It's possible that somebody was passing by on the road below, about 100 yards distant, heard the gunfire, and called on us, although no mention was made of a complaint. I suspect that the Deputy was just passing by, saw our trucks parked on the side of the road and stopped, then heard gunfire.

 

[El Tejon]

While I am completely unfamiliar with the concept of just driving off and shooting on federal land (I live East of the Mississippi and we have to pay our own way here), I cannot believe that this happened in America.

You are shooting where you are allowed to shoot, right? Not breaking any laws and the police pull up and demand to see "your papers"? Reasonable suspicion and the Fourth Amendment is out the window in California when it comes to guns???

Something is wrong with this picture. Where is my soapbox?

 

[ilbob]

You are shooting where you are allowed to shoot, right? Not breaking any laws and the police pull up and demand to see "your papers"? Reasonable suspicion and the Fourth Amendment is out the window in California when it comes to guns???

Not much different then your basic DUI checkpoint where 100s or 1000s of innocents are detained and forced to prove they are not guilty of everything before being grudgingly allowed to proceed.

 

[K3]

Not much different then your basic DUI checkpoint where 100s or 1000s of innocents are detained and forced to prove they are not guilty of everything before being grudgingly allowed to proceed.

Yeah, but it's for the collective good.....

 

[fireflyfather]

Hah. At Carrizo Creek, the border patrol hang out within earshot. Never seem to have a problem with it. The only downside is that they sometimes overfly the line of fire/ricochet at low altitude with those choppers. We have to stop shooting to protect the idiots flying those things. (figure 20-30 people with high powered rifles shooting at the side of a large hill. Then helicopter pop over the hill. Happened twice in the 4-5 times I've been there.

The BP, however, never give the shooters grief.

 

[FourNineFoxtrot]

El Tejon:

We were shooting on federal land where I've gone to shoot before, and where many others go to shoot. The Deputy even said, before she left, that we weren't doing anything wrong. I gather from your comment that shooting on federal land isn't done in the East? Out West, even in California, there's still unused land where you can go to shoot or hunt, although I'm not a hunter. I don't know if that "Pay our own way" line was a crack, but whatever. You said, "Not breaking any laws and the police pull up and demand to see "your papers"". Yeah, that's about how it went down.

 

[CountGlockula]

Reasonable suspicion and the Fourth Amendment is out the window in California when it comes to guns???

EXACTLY!!!

 

[BobbyQuickdraw]

Unreasonable search is for the collective good?

Random checks of innocent civilians are supposed to be prohibited by the Constitution that affirmed our right to live without fear of unreasonable search and seizure.

Driving at night is not a reasonable excuse to search someone for the presence of alcohol.

And while the roads are safer when drunks are off of them, how many check points catch offenders? And those who give up liberty for safety deserve neither, as we all have heard.

 

[TallPine]

That's just bull manure

 

[MaddSkillz]

Bad guys practice too, how does he know if your good or bad till he checks you out??

He doesn't have the need to know either. Wasn't it Nazi Germany where citizens were required to show identification just because?

What have we turned into? We're a bunch of spineless, grovel to self-proclaimed authority, Americans anymore.

Does anyone remember what freedom is?

 

[ilbob]

And while the roads are safer when drunks are off of them, how many check points catch offenders?

I would bet they catch very few drunk drivers compared to the number of people who are detained. I have seen one fairly recently. I saw at least 30 cars lined up in front of me and most went through in 30 seconds or less. Did not see anyone pulled off to the side. But that meant the guys at the back of the line were detained for 15 minutes or more so that they could decide those 30 people were not drunk. Nothing reasonable about that at all.

For some reason the cops all took off before I got to the sign. No lights or sirens, just all drove off. Left the sign.

 

[JesseL]

Bad guys practice too, how does he know if your good or bad till he checks you out??

Bad guys [STRIKE]practice[/STRIKE] eat lunch too, how does he know if your good or bad till he checks you out??

I kinda thought people were supposed to be assumed to be good guys until there was some reason to suspect that they might be doing something illegal?

I know they can't pull you over just to check your license and registration, just because they saw you drive by. How is this different?

 

[damien]

We were shooting on federal land where I've gone to shoot before, and where many others go to shoot. The Deputy even said, before she left, that we weren't doing anything wrong. I gather from your comment that shooting on federal land isn't done in the East?

The only federal land in Illinois has a military base, FBI office, or post office on it. I don't think they would appreciate it.

I don't know if that "Pay our own way" line was a crack.

All it means is that almost all ranges are private and require some fee to be paid. The concept of shooting for free is foreign in many states, even "shooters states" like Texas which also has a deficit of BLM land.

I would love for there to be some BLM land in Illinois. There just isn't any. Knowing Illinois cops, they would probably troll informal shooting ranges also. But that is purely hypothetical and we will never know.

 

[K3]

Unreasonable search is for the collective good?

It sure is.

Just like gun control.

In case you missed it, I was being sarcastic.

 

[hotpig]

I just can not image driving to federal property and shooting. It would be a fast track to trouble for sure. I guess you guys have a lot of open Federal properly west of the Mississippi River.

 

[K3]

I just can not image driving to federal property and shooting. It would be a fast track to trouble for sure. I guess you guys have a lot of open Federal properly west of the Mississippi River.

Not in Texas, that's for sure.