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Gun Laws in your state

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
No offense Sir, but this whole series of posts is somewhat Ironic considering your avatar!! (not calling you a liar or anything, just kind of funny) I have a lot of respect for police officers, but the ones who have no ability to discern between law abiding citizens and the aforementioned Joe Crackhead aggravate me. I've been pulled over before and had Cops who were great to deal with and I've also had cops who acted like they were 2 words away from shooting me the whole time (FWIW my attitude during the stops is always very respecful and non-threatening).

I've also had a couple occasions where police officers damn near assaulted me for zero reason whatsoever and another where a local cop verbally libelled and almost arested a commissioned 2nd LT with a Gunny standing 5 feet away in uniform. No laws were broken in any of the above situations. Just overreacting on the side of the Police Officers.

I understand your positions as you've stated them, but I think we've all had bad experiences which leads to the "US against THEM" reactions on both sides. You guys have a difficult and underpaid job no doubt and I appreciate that as much as anyone. I just don't understand why some Police Officers feel like they need be the "bully on the playground" all the time.



as far as the avatar, i've had that up here years before I became a cop. It pertains to the unlawful appropriation of weapons by the government. If I was ordered to do that by my chief I would turn in my badge and walk out.

I believe law enforcement is one of the only jobs where every citizen believes they know my job better than I do. I wouldnt tell you how to fly a jet or drive a ship, but everyone believes they can do my job better.

The military folks are just like everyone else. Just because you wear a uniform for the armed services does not make you a saint, if that was the case there would be no NCIS or base police, etc. My very first struggle was with a drunk Army sergeant. I chased after and caught an idiot that stole beer from a convenience store and found an active US Army military ID in it. I pulled over and arrested a Marine after I found him carrying another man's wallet (was stolen) and brand new items in his trunk that he had purchased with the credit cards in that wallet. Just because you show me a military ID doesnt mean I'm going to get all "warm and fuzzy" inside.

There are assholes in every profession and are included in law enforcement. I personally know a few of them. They are the guys I do not want backing me up because I know they will just make the situation worse. They are there in your profession as well just like they are there in nursing, teaching, etc. It is just more noticeable in the police profession because they're in the public eye all the time. I know I wont be able to change your attitude on things, just as I cannot change a racist person overnight, but would just like to enlighten you to the real world. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous: "I must learn to accept the things I cannot change..."
 

A4sForever

BTDT OLD GUY
pilot
Contributor
....I've also had a couple occasions where police officers damn near assaulted me for zero reason whatsoever...
Ummm, really?
.... I knew a guy in the class behind me who lived on base in the 'Q' ... he was stopped on the way back from town one night -- not a hell-raiser at all, in fact he was more of a Clark Kent-esque, mild mannered NAVAIR STUD .... he got out of the car after stopping (BIG mistake, but you gotta' remember it was 40 years ago and people didn't mess with LEO's like they seem prone to do today .... the next thing he remembered was waking up in the Meridian Hospital w/ a big dent in his head.

Meridian cops + big D-cell flashlights = bad headache .... :)
 

Bevo16

Registered User
pilot

Rog,

I know you are smart, but you might want to back off the super cop cool-aid.

You know damn well that there is no law in Texas that requires someone to volunteer that they have a gun in the car. If you ask, and they lie, then you might have something.

Oh, and if you pull someone over for speeding, and then arrest them because they would not submit to a search of their vehicle, then you are going to find yourself on the wrong side of a 4th amendment suit in short order. Frankly, that you would even consider arresting someone for speeding {by magically reconidering the circumstances how "wreakless" they were driving} simply because they want to exercise their 4th amendment rights is disgusting. That's not even close to ethecial my good friend. Maybe that shit files down there with the guys who don't speak any english, but I am sure you use proper "discretion" on who you want to search.

I have not had a ticket since college {not nearly as many as you IIRC}, so I must be doing something correctly.

OBTW, I can problaby get you tickets for Louisiana Monroe @ face value {$65 per ticket}. The days of me getting 4 free ones for each game are long gone, unfortunatley.

Let's continue this talk over beer, OK.
 

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Ah Nate, like my mother in law you must have the last word. Thats ok, i'm used to it.

For information's sake, if i'm asking a driver for consent to search its because 1.) I have a hunch about something 2) I already have the probable cause I need to search I just want to hear what they are going to say. I do everything within the confines of the law and thats why i'm still working where I do. I wish i had a nickle for all the times i've heard "i'm going to have your badge!", "i'm going to the media!", you name it. I'm still here going day in and day out with a badge and gun. If you want to play a game with a cop be prepared to get to take the good and bad with it. I'm still waiting for the "lawsuit."

Also, talked to the wife, cannot under any circumstances afford $65.00 a ticket. I dont get paid nearly as much as I did as an officer in the Navy. I'll still be up in Austin on the 5th though...i'll take you up on that beer.
 

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
A4s, Bevo can have the last word, if it helps I'll come out and say "you win." I've learned the side of the road is not the place for an argument and neither is the internet.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Ah Nate, like my mother in law you must have the last word. Thats ok, i'm used to it.

For information's sake, if i'm asking a driver for consent to search its because 1.) I have a hunch about something 2) I already have the probable cause I need to search I just want to hear what they are going to say. I do everything within the confines of the law and thats why i'm still working where I do. I wish i had a nickle for all the times i've heard "i'm going to have your badge!", "i'm going to the media!", you name it. I'm still here going day in and day out with a badge and gun. If you want to play a game with a cop be prepared to get to take the good and bad with it. I'm still waiting for the "lawsuit."

Also, talked to the wife, cannot under any circumstances afford $65.00 a ticket. I dont get paid nearly as much as I did as an officer in the Navy. I'll still be up in Austin on the 5th though...i'll take you up on that beer.

Listen. I can respect LE as a whole, but individually I've had a stop or two with cops that I thought were basically using the little authority they had to feel good about themselves. I am ALWAYS respectful and my speech is chock-full of sirs, which seems to grease the stop into a warning most-times.

What I have a problem with is when I get questioned on things beyond the circumstances of the stop. I usually answer all questions for the above reasons, but I feel they are unnecessary. What does it matter where I am going, or where I am from? Luckily I've never been asked to have my car searched, but I would absolutely NOT agree to this under any circumstances.... respectfully of course.

Usually my car is completely empty. Not a THING in it, but I would still refuse a search. Why? Because there are two options:

1) Respectfully deny access for a search and go on my merry way with whatever outcome of the stop.

2)Allow the search when there was no PC and have that 0.00001% chance they find something in my car that someone else left (god knows what my friends/family not in the Navy carry with them *ahem*! and what they may leave in my car accidental or otherwise) and be held accountable for what is found.

Have a chance at getting in more trouble or deny the search (since it's unfounded) and move on my merry way?

Choice seems simple.

"Can I search your car?"

"Sir, I'm afraid I can't let you without a search warrant."

"Really? Got something to hide? Ever heard of probable cause?"

"I don't believe there is any probable cause, sir. But if you insist, then allow me to call my attorney."

;)

Not a dig against you or LE at ALL, Rare, but sometimes certain "special" cops think they are smarter than the folks they stop. I, however, am not the crack-smoking teenager who exclaims "I've got nothing to hide, go ahead!" I have half a brain and a relatively decent working knowledge of my rights.
 

rare21

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Most of the time my questioning is for a reason. I dont really care where you're going or where you're coming from...I'm digging for something and i'll leave it at that.

Sometimes dispatch is taking WAY too long to come back with a return on your license and I'm just chit chatting to pass the time. I find it uncomfortable for me and the driver to just stare back at each other silently for 3 to 4 minutes while we wait.

If you want to call your lawyer on a stop thats fine. Just dont ask me to talk to him or her, I wont. I booked a guy in for his 4th DWI and he uses his phone call to call his lawyer. He basically admits to his lawyer in front of me that he was driving while intoxicated and wants me to speak to him. I hung it up and told him to take his punishment like a man.
 

jtmedli

Well-Known Member
pilot
as far as the avatar, i've had that up here years before I became a cop. It pertains to the unlawful appropriation of weapons by the government. If I was ordered to do that by my chief I would turn in my badge and walk out.

I believe law enforcement is one of the only jobs where every citizen believes they know my job better than I do. I wouldnt tell you how to fly a jet or drive a ship, but everyone believes they can do my job better.

The military folks are just like everyone else. Just because you wear a uniform for the armed services does not make you a saint, if that was the case there would be no NCIS or base police, etc. My very first struggle was with a drunk Army sergeant. I chased after and caught an idiot that stole beer from a convenience store and found an active US Army military ID in it. I pulled over and arrested a Marine after I found him carrying another man's wallet (was stolen) and brand new items in his trunk that he had purchased with the credit cards in that wallet. Just because you show me a military ID doesnt mean I'm going to get all "warm and fuzzy" inside.

There are assholes in every profession and are included in law enforcement. I personally know a few of them. They are the guys I do not want backing me up because I know they will just make the situation worse. They are there in your profession as well just like they are there in nursing, teaching, etc. It is just more noticeable in the police profession because they're in the public eye all the time. I know I wont be able to change your attitude on things, just as I cannot change a racist person overnight, but would just like to enlighten you to the real world. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous: "I must learn to accept the things I cannot change..."

Sir, about the Avatar, I wasn't accusing you or hinting at anything. It was just kind of funny.

As far as what you said, I agree completely with you and most of what's been said in this thread. I don't currently have my CHL/CWL but will probably be getting it. I think that you guys should be informed that someone is carrying and honesty/integrity is paramount. It's not worth lying about or omitting and there's really no reason to do so.

FWIW I've had my fair share of good experiences and bad experience with cops. Some were very nice and even helpful and others were just nightmares. I'm well past the point of understanding you just have to take the good with the bad.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
.... I knew a guy in the class behind me who lived on base in the 'Q' ... he was stopped.... the next thing he remembered was waking up in the Meridian Hospital w/ a big dent in his head.

Meridian cops + big D-cell flashlights = bad headache .... :)

Once I can understand, but a couple of times? Either the person is the unluckiest guy besides MB, is exaggerating, or it has something to do with them.

Kind of like the guy who asked one day when we are deployed in Japan, "Why is it that I am the one who always gets in trouble?" Well, it could be because you are a belligerent drunk who doesn't know when to stop. It ain't always 'the man' keeping you down, sometimes it is your own dumbass self.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
.... I knew a guy in the class behind me who lived on base in the 'Q' ... he was stopped on the way back from town one night -- not a hell-raiser at all, in fact he was more of a Clark Kent-esque, mild mannered NAVAIR STUD .... he got out of the car after stopping (BIG mistake, but you gotta' remember it was 40 years ago and people didn't mess with LEO's like they seem prone to do today .... the next thing he remembered was waking up in the Meridian Hospital w/ a big dent in his head.

Meridian cops + big D-cell flashlights = bad headache .... :)

"You know, people say you shouldn't drink and drive, and I call these people "The Cops". They say you shouldn't drink and drive, but you know ... Those kids gotta get to school!"
 

Bevo16

Registered User
pilot
Ah Nate, like my mother in law you must have the last word. Thats ok, i'm used to it.

I think that our wives might be sisters.


For information's sake, if i'm asking a driver for consent to search its because 1.) I have a hunch about something 2) I already have the probable cause I need to search I just want to hear what they are going to say. I do everything within the confines of the law and thats why i'm still working where I do. I wish i had a nickle for all the times i've heard "i'm going to have your badge!", "i'm going to the media!", you name it. I'm still here going day in and day out with a badge and gun. If you want to play a game with a cop be prepared to get to take the good and bad with it. I'm still waiting for the "lawsuit."

Like I said earlier, I am sure that you are smart about who you search. Probably because you have a good sense on who is really up to no good and who isn't. That is also probably why I have not had a cop ask to search my car. The Naval Officer going 9mph over the limit on his way to work probably does not have a kilo of meth under the seat.

Still, like Otto, if a cop does want to search my truck, I am going to say "no thanks". If that means I get a speeding ticket, fine. Serve it up. I'll do the on-line defensive driving "like a man" and keep my 4th amendment rights. In the unlikely event that the cop wants to get in a pissing contest and fabricate charges (like you suggested earlier), then he is not going to come out on top. If he really wants to go through the hassle of arresting me, trying to make PC stick, and justifying all of those actions, then we can go down that road.

I doubt that it will ever happen.


Also, talked to the wife, cannot under any circumstances afford $65.00 a ticket. I dont get paid nearly as much as I did as an officer in the Navy. I'll still be up in Austin on the 5th though...i'll take you up on that beer.

You are not the only ones feeling the pain on tickets this year. If you are want to tailgate, I would bet solid money that you will be able to find 4 tickets for much less than face value. Seating is going to up to 100K this year, and it will probably still be hotter than hell on Sept 5. There will be a large supply of tickets on the market around the stadium. I will be staying at the Hilton downtown, and that will be my center of ops.
 

FlyBoyd

Out to Pasture
pilot
You are not the only ones feeling the pain on tickets this year. If you are want to tailgate, I would bet solid money that you will be able to find 4 tickets for much less than face value. Seating is going to up to 100K this year, and it will probably still be hotter than hell on Sept 5. There will be a large supply of tickets on the market around the stadium. I will be staying at the Hilton downtown, and that will be my center of ops.

Concur....for the first time in 5 years my season tickets moved. We went from the Southwest 2 yard line to the Northwest 35. FWIW, we give very little to The Foundation. I heard there were still some season tickets for sale (rumor) so scalping will be pretty heavy. If you can't find any in a comfortable price range...back to the tailgate.

Bevo...Are we (AW and/or UT alums) meeting up anywhere?
 
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