Tense Florida Traffic Stop with Firearms
- Thread starter Tony_the_tiger
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question:
LEOs really think a law abiding citizen, that owns and registers a car in their name and has a CCW permit needs to have the serial # on the pistol checked to see if stolen? Is that really even a remote occurance, CCW holders and registered vehicle owners running around with stolen $500 pistols? Seriously? Is there any reasonable suspicion at all of that gun being stolen? Do they check to see if any other property in the car might be stolen? No, of course not. I find the whole idea of it laughable and seems to me to be clearly a way to stick it to the gun owner a little bit more, or possibly just out of a desire, hope against hope, to find something to arrest them for.
LEOs really think a law abiding citizen, that owns and registers a car in their name and has a CCW permit needs to have the serial # on the pistol checked to see if stolen? Is that really even a remote occurance, CCW holders and registered vehicle owners running around with stolen $500 pistols? Seriously? Is there any reasonable suspicion at all of that gun being stolen? Do they check to see if any other property in the car might be stolen? No, of course not. I find the whole idea of it laughable and seems to me to be clearly a way to stick it to the gun owner a little bit more, or possibly just out of a desire, hope against hope, to find something to arrest them for.
oneounceload
member
Nope, not hardly - drive through Alachua many times per month. I learned a LONG time ago that if you have a lead foot like I do, a $400 radar detector is worth its weight in gold. You got a nervous cop, maybe his first solo patrol out of the academy trying to do his job, calm his nerves, and make sure he goes home that night - overreaction? sure sounds like it. Standard protocol for the entire sheriff dept? Not even close
The Man With No Name
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Everytime your car is stopped your car has been checked to make sure it isn't stolen. By your logic is that not reasonable also? I guess some of you might feel different if you had ever had a gun stolen or didn't have such an obvious anti-law enforcement bias here.
By listing my name, are you inferring that I have personally or been involved with violating someone's rights or physically abused them?
Deanimator
Member
THe Dove
BOOMER SOONER!!!
I've been stopped two different times in Oklahoma since my CCW permit. Once by a small town cop in north central OK and once by an OHP trooper on a long lonely 2 lane highway in western OK. I informed them both on initial contact that I was carrying and had a permit and then asked them "how do you want me to proceed?" Both of them never batted and eye, niether got edgy or nothing, but both asked me at that point in the stop, "where is the firearm sir?" I told them where the weapon was and they said "thank you", "now I need to see your DL and permit." Very respectful and very courtious the both of them were.
As for the OP, I think you handled the situation perfectly. I agree that while it may suck to have to bite your tongue at the time, you did the best thing by biting it. JMHO By the way, glad you didn't get a speeding ticket. You deserved one going that much over the limit!!! HAHA
The Dove
As for the OP, I think you handled the situation perfectly. I agree that while it may suck to have to bite your tongue at the time, you did the best thing by biting it. JMHO By the way, glad you didn't get a speeding ticket. You deserved one going that much over the limit!!! HAHA
The Dove
brboyer
Member
No, not resonable at all.
What percentage of automobiles registered in your state are stolen and of that number how many do you pull over each year?
According to the DOT there were over 254.4 million registered autos in the US in 2009 and according the the FBI, less than one half of one percent are stolen each year, so, yeah, seems like a waste of resources to me.
But it's a quick computer check that does not interfere with the driver's rights, so no one complains.
Running serial numbers on firearms, on the other hand, can only be accomplished by directly interfering with one's ability to be free from unreasonable searches.
Depending on whose stats you believe, stolen guns amount to about one quarter of one percent to as small as five one-hundredths of one percent. So yes, it is completely unreasonable because 99.25 to 99.95 percent are not stolen.
Why don't LEO check serial numbers on every other lawfully possessed article found on a person or in a car in the extremely unlikely event they are stolen too? Cell phones, credit cards, iPads, laptops, watches, etc.
That pesky 4th Amendment gets in the way, and the public outcry would be deafening! It should be the same for firearms too, but they are scary, mmkay?
The most interesting thing here is that out of all the personal property that LEO might check, it is usually, only the Constitutionally protected item they routinely choose to check.
Deanimator
Member
Well, as this discussion has clearly demonstrated, there is a considerable animosity on the part of some members of law enforcement toward certain constitutional rights, and especially towards citizens who assert them.
brboyer
Member
Yes, but then again there are an equal, or greater, number of members that show considerable animosity towards law enforcement in general, regardless of the situation.
Enough.
Tony asked me if he could add a closing statement. Since he was the the OP I gratned his request. Below is his closing statement in his own words.
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