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Philly police dont know the gun laws

Yeah I listened to the audio yesterday when it came out on Drudge...Shocking to say the least. He was being perfectly calm and collected while the cop in question was the one spazzing out. Know your rights because you are the only one who can defend and articulate them when push comes to shove.
 
The only thing I think he should have done differently was offer to let the officer take his gun... Still it's pretty clear this didn't need to happen and the police over reacted.
 
My background in this matter is that of a 21 year veteran of law enforcement, and while I have not been able to get the audio to load I'll take it at face value that the officer was in the wrong. I don't however think that the " Philly police don't know the gun laws " is fair or accurate. I'm sure that hundreds of them do, and hundreds don't, which is their fault individually and the departments as a whole for failure to train them. Judging an entire group of people based on the actions of an individual is something that officers are frequently accused of, and even more frequently subject to.

I doubt that you'd would appreciate a headline that impuned all Naval aviators based on the actions of one who was negligent.

Unfortunately this is not a rare occurrence, and something that as a profession we need to improve upon.
 
GroundPounder said:
My background in this matter is that of a 21 year veteran of law enforcement, and while I have not been able to get the audio to load I'll take it at face value that the officer was in the wrong. I don't however think that the " Philly police don't know the gun laws " is fair or accurate. I'm sure that hundreds of them do, and hundreds don't, which is their fault individually and the departments as a whole for failure to train them. Judging an entire group of people based on the actions of an individual is something that officers are frequently accused of, and even more frequently subject to.

I doubt that you'd would appreciate a headline that impuned all Naval aviators based on the actions of one who was negligent.

Unfortunately this is not a rare occurrence, and something that as a profession we need to improve upon.
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So I should have put that 'some philly cops don't know the gun laws'...

However I find it curious that there were about 5-6 officers involved and not one of them said 'uh guys, this dudes right, he can carry openly'. In the article it mentions that plenty of cops in PI had inquired about his open carry in previous incidents and it went without incident...
 
statesman said:
So I should have put that 'some philly cops don't know the gun laws'...

However I find it curious that there were about 5-6 officers involved and not one of them said 'uh guys, this dudes right, he can carry openly'. In the article it mentions that plenty of cops in PI had inquired about his open carry in previous incidents and it went without incident...
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I get nervous from a lot of the quotes from the PD, not just these officer's whose ignorance of the law is no excuse. I can't get away with the "I didn't know the speed limit wasn't 85" excuse...why does it work for these guys? Officers who see someone carrying openly have the "right" to ensure they are licensed to carry. What about the bill of rights? I thought those were written for those of us on this side of the government, you know, the side with less guns, less power, and no badge?


So much for probable cause. Start pulling over every car...better make sure they're licensed to drive. Or start checking every Hispanic's green card, wouldn't want them to be here illegally...

Cops can't shake down the dealer on the corner unless you catch him red handed and he isn't already on the take as an informant, but a guy in the autozone with a licensed firearm in a holster definitely deserves an officer to put a gun in their face. After his recording hit youtube, the philly DA levied more charges against him. Good luck with that, considering the NRA is drooling to drop their lawyers into this mix, especially considering recent gun rights victories. Violent east coast city with their priorities all fucked up? Imagine that.
 
In the Texas law books I technically can stop you just to check for a driver's license. FYI

Sec. 521.025. LICENSE TO BE CARRIED AND EXHIBITED ON DEMAND; CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) A person required to hold a license under Section 521.021 shall:(1) have in the person's possession while operating a motor vehicle the class of driver's license appropriate for the type of vehicle operated; and(2) display the license on the demand of a magistrate, court officer, or peace officer.(b) A peace officer may stop and detain a person operating a motor vehicle to determine if the person has a driver's license as required by this section.
 
That's not the issue though Rare. The cops never asked to see the license in this case... In fact when offered they ignored the license all together... This was the officer not knowing the law, plain and simple.
 
statesman said:
That's not the issue though Rare. The cops never asked to see the license in this case... In fact when offered they ignored the license all together... This was the officer not knowing the law, plain and simple.
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As a taxpayer and citizen I think the bigger issue is not that they didn't know the law, but their lack of professionalism and courtesy to a citizen that they've sworn to "serve and protect." Using that many F-bombs and cuss words in public is just purely unprofessional. Sure, the guy had a holstered weapon, but from the sounds of things these guys were ready to drop him. It's not like he was publically brandishing the weapon.

The DA pressing charges just seems to be the City of Brotherly Love trying to cover it's ass once it was publically humiliated.

Really just tend to boil down to the fact that Philly is full of jerks:
Don't like a group's political stance? Drop a satchel charge from a helicopter on to their house.
Don't like that a ball player signed with another team? Why boo when you can throw D-cell batteries?
Or, for the tops in classlessness, why not boo Santa Claus?
 
Definitely agree with the "retaliation" theory for the charges against him for refusing to obey a police order etc. Unfortunately, these unprofessional cops had a candid conversation/altercation with a perfectly law-abiding citizen posted for the masses to scrutinize and they look like assholes. The best defense is an offense.
 
Pags said:
As a taxpayer and citizen I think the bigger issue is not that they didn't know the law, but their lack of professionalism and courtesy to a citizen that they've sworn to "serve and protect."
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I disagree- It would be completely unacceptable for a sports referee to officiate a game without knowing the rulebook and it's interpretations. I also think it is completely unacceptable for a cop to not know the laws that he is enforcing. If you don't know the law, you can't enforce it.
 
Unfortunately, too many LEOs today don't even "know" their guns ... let alone some more esoteric gun laws.
 
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