Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To all of you that think the cop was in the right, I have a question...
At 2:18 into the video there is a cop car that drives by.....
If the citizen was in the wrong then why did the Officer driving that car not get out and assist the other Officer?
Because the other officer knew better than to risk his job. Since people are assuming this cop was just acting weak, I will assume the other officer in the car was rolling his eyes at the stupidity of the harassing officer.
I have never been asked by a police officer in my life if I was carrying a gun... I have carried a rifle on a motorcycle in downtown Houston right by a Police Officer and he did stop me and ask what I was doing.
I do not assume the government has rights and givers citizens permission. I am a big fan of individual rights and minimal government intervention. In this case, the police have been asked by the people to protect the citizens of this town. Part of that protection involves making sure that only those who are legally allowed to do so are carrying weapons. In addition, this camera guy came into an existing situation, so the officer had every right to assertain who he was and why he was involving himself. The officer didn't go looking for him, or grab him as he passed by. This guy cam to the officer while the officer was busy with something else.
"only those who are legally allowed"
Someone wasn't paying attention. No one is legally "allowed" to do anything. Some persons such as convicted felons and the clinically insane are "prohibited" from possessing fire arms, but no one is assumed to be committing a crime or guilty before trial. If he had legitimate information that a convicted felon was at that location and he matched the description and he was carrying a fire arm, only then would he would have been allowed to ask for ID.
The cop had no right to harass anyone there. He wasn't investigating a crime. End of story.
In Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, the Supreme Court upheld state laws requiring citizens to disclose their identity to police when officers have reasonable suspicion to believe criminal activity may be taking place. Commonly known as "stop-and-identify" statutes, these laws permit police to arrest criminal suspects who refuse to identify themselves.
As of 2008, 24 states had stop-and-identify laws. Regardless of your state's law, keep in mind that police can never compel you to identify yourself without reasonable suspicion to believe you're involved in criminal activity.
Frequently Asked Questions - ID | How to Flex Your Rights During Police Encounters (http://www.flexyourrights.org/faq/120 - broken link)
You are grasping again...it is getting old. That officer is wrong, dead wrong. This person's age is not in question at all.
We never saw the guy on camera. How do we know he is clearrly of legal age? Bars are required to ask for proof of anyone who even looks under 40, just so they can be sure. Anyplace that sells tobaco products has signs up saying that they are required to ask for proof of age up to roughly the same point. Are the police supposed to use a different standard?
And even if I were reaching, even if the cop KNEW the guy was of legal age, you people all seem to be ignoring the fact that this guy, with his camera and his gun, came to the police officer. He involved himself in whatever the officer was doing. Now, while I'll not argue his right to do that, you hace to acknowledge that the officer has the right to find out who the guy is and why he is involving himself in something that, until the camera guy chose oitherwise, had nothing to do with him. I'd say asking who he is & why he is carrying a gun are quite appropriate questions. he didn't try to disarm the man, he didn't try to arrest him, he didn't in any way deprive him of any rights. He asked who the man was and what he wanted. To do otherwise would have been stupid. Personally, I think the first thing this officer did wrong was to turn his back and walk away from an armed man whose intentions he didn't know. I guess that's what happens when lawsuits and aggressively anti police activists frighten enough of the police into being over cautious.
In North Carolina, open carry of a firearm is allowed in most places without a permit as long as you are on foot - not in a car. Open carry is not allowed at a political demonstration, so it is good that they were not protesting - I'm not sure if that would be classified as a political demonstration. Sooooo, the guy with the gun appears to be within his rights to carry the gun. I support the right of law abiding citizens to carry guns and am generally opposed to requirements for permits since the US Constitution says that the right to bear arms "shall not be infringed". I consider permit requirements to be unconstitutional.
If the guy with the gun is against abortion and that is why he was there, that is unfortunate since I consider abortion to be a right of any woman who makes that choice. I would hope that the guy with the gun who stands up for his right to carry would also stand up for any woman's right to have an abortion. Both rights are basic to being free individuals. Kind of like the right to live in any house you can afford, go to any college you can be accepted to, or to eat what you want, etc.
We never saw the guy on camera. How do we know he is clearrly of legal age? Bars are required to ask for proof of anyone who even looks under 40, just so they can be sure. Anyplace that sells tobaco products has signs up saying that they are required to ask for proof of age up to roughly the same point. Are the police supposed to use a different standard?
And even if I were reaching, even if the cop KNEW the guy was of legal age, you people all seem to be ignoring the fact that this guy, with his camera and his gun, came to the police officer. He involved himself in whatever the officer was doing. Now, while I'll not argue his right to do that, you hace to acknowledge that the officer has the right to find out who the guy is and why he is involving himself in something that, until the camera guy chose oitherwise, had nothing to do with him. I'd say asking who he is & why he is carrying a gun are quite appropriate questions. he didn't try to disarm the man, he didn't try to arrest him, he didn't in any way deprive him of any rights. He asked who the man was and what he wanted. To do otherwise would have been stupid. Personally, I think the first thing this officer did wrong was to turn his back and walk away from an armed man whose intentions he didn't know. I guess that's what happens when lawsuits and aggressively anti police activists frighten enough of the police into being over cautious.
Well, I guess he could have drawn his gun into a crouch-stance and backed away in the safe-stance.
I have never been asked by a police officer in my life if I was carrying a gun... I have carried a rifle on a motorcycle in downtown Houston right by a Police Officer and he did stop me and ask what I was doing.
Uh..I'll take it that's a misprint but that's easy to say and unverifiable. I bet if took that rifle out and walked up to an abortion clinic you would have been stopped. I know there are about 30 Virginia Tech families that wished someone stopped the wacked out kid that went on a rampage. Your entire premise is completely flawed. This is how the world works in 99% of America. Maybe you all live on secluded compound where everybody walks around with guns but that's not most of America. A guy walking down any street with a gun in every city in America will be stopped guaranteed. I don't care what Wikipedia says.
Well, I guess he could have drawn his gun into a crouch-stance and backed away in the safe-stance.
The police officer? Yeah, I guess he could have, but that would have been inviting trouble. Instead, he took the rather simple & reasonable approach; he asked to man who he was.
I have never been asked by a police officer in my life if I was carrying a gun... I have carried a rifle on a motorcycle in downtown Houston right by a Police Officer and he did stop me and ask what I was doing.
This proves what? That police don't stop random people to ask if they are carrying weapons, and that if a police officer sees someopne carrying a deadly weapom, they might stop them to ask why. Both reasonable actions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Since people are assuming this cop was just acting weak, I will assume the other officer in the car was rolling his eyes at the stupidity of the harassing officer.
