From this account over at Delaware Open Carry it sounds like certain members of the Wimington Police Department think they're Philly cops or something.
Here's an excerpt from the incident,
"they did not charge me with any crime. Instead, they cited a belief that armed citizens should always have proof of ownership of their firearm on them. They said that they also reserve the right to detain and disarm anyone in order to prove that the firearm is not stolen.....they explained that my firearm would not be returned to me until I could appear at the police station with sufficient proof that I own the firearm."
So, first he's stopped without cause, then detained without cause, then asked for things which do not exist or which he could not possibly be expected to produce. Then, to top it all off the Wilmington Police Dept. steals his property after they'd clearly run it and had it not come up stolen.
That said, I've heard many things about the Wilmington police from people I trust and whom are in a position to know. None of what I've heard has been good. Let's just say that the department has "issues" from the top down. It sounds to me like Wilmington cops are in need of a refresher course about what is and isn't legal, even if that means they've got to learn in the hard way. I swear, it pisses me off to no end that "ignorance is not excuse" applies if I break the law, but ignorance of the law is perfectly acceptable when said ignorance results in civil rights violations by police.
I very much respect the policing profession as a whole, but I have absolutely zero respect for police officers who will willfully and wantonly violate the rights of Delaware citizens. What a shame that Delaware is a two-party state for audio recordings, because I'd love to have audio of the Wilmington cops (err thugs) telling an OC'er what was said above.
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3 comments:
"it sounds like certain members of the Wimington Police Department think they're Philly cops"
I was under the impression that the whole town of Wilmington wants to be Philly.
A simple and cost effective solution to the "prove it is yours" issue:
Scan a copy of your receipt for the firearm or a notarized statement of ownership and email it to yourself via an online mail account (gmail, yahoo, etc).
Title the email with the make/model of your firearm.
If you are ever asked for ownership, you simply search your email and pull up the receipt.
Not only is the receipt time stamped but so is the email.
I realize we shouldn't have to do this but it really cuts of their argument if you do.
We have a similar problem in Jersey. Possession of guns doesn't require a license here, but purchasing them does. Some NJ cops have decided that, if they find a gun in your car during a traffic stop, they're not going to "take your word for it" that you obtained it legally. They'll seize your property unless you've kept the carbon copy from the pistol permit you used to buy the gun.
This is especially obnoxious, since there are quite a few legal guns in this state that were never associated with pistol permits: anybody who inherited a gun or moved to Jersey with guns won't be able to meet this extrajudicial demand.
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