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8.22.2012
Shoutout To The Cop
You guys want to know something crazy? You can carry a semi-automatic rifle around on the street with you in Texas. Yep, right down a sidewalk. I was talking to an assistant DA in Wise County about this just the other day. Most people don't know that (and I think I'm glad most people don't know this.)
This guy in the video with the gun has taken a crash course in criminal law because he is firing out all sorts of buzzwards: "encounter", "detention", "Terry v. Ohio", and "article 1, section 9" (the last one which is the Texas constitution's equivalent of the Fourth Amendment.") He's looking for a fight - or, more accurately, a cop screwup, but he knows his rights.
But the cop did a fantastic job here. The rules are this: If he has a reasonable suspicion that some type of criminal activity is ongoing, the cop can "detain" him to further investigate. The cop's basis was that the weapon the guy on the street had might be fully automatic. Once he determined it was a semi-automatic, he did the only thing he could do: Hand the rifle back to the kid.
I'm sure being recorded may have greatly influenced how the officer handle the guy on the street, but it was textbook. And I didn't think such a thing ever happened.
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29 comments:
Well if you didn't want it to be known, now it is. Needing business Mr. Green
You guys want to know something crazy? You can carry a semi-automatic rifle around on the street with you in Texas.
I knew this all along.
DF Quannell X
There was some guy out in West Texas who used to carry a six-shooter in a holster everywhere he went, back when the legislature was considering passing the concealed handgun law. It was an old-school .45, and went down to about his knee. He was interviewed for the news, and from what I remember it went a little like this:
Reporter: Is that loaded?
Cowboy: What good is an unloaded gun?
Reporter: You know, they haven't passed the law permitting you to carry a concealed weapon yet.
Cowboy: Does this look concealed to you?
Good times.
Rage
I double dog dare you to try that in Decatur. Your 4th and 14th amendment rights will certainly be forgotten about with the first round of tazers.
I'm sure being recorded may have greatly influenced how the officer handle the guy on the street, but it was textbook. And I didn't think such a thing ever happened.
I forgot to mention this, but you answered your own question here. It happens when it's public. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Had there been no recording, this guy would have been face-planted and cuffed.
Rage
Cop did a great job.
I think that the "reasonable suspicion" is arguable. Gun looks like it could be semi- or fully- automatic (as cop states), but semiautomatics are probably 99% more common, so the very high probability is that it's legal. That is, "I can't tell if it's legal or not" shouldn't be "I therefore reasonably suspect that it's not legal".
And the beauty of this sort of Terry stop is that generally it will never be reviewed unless the guy is actually arrested, shown to be a bad guy, and tries to challenge it later -- and once we know that he's a bad guy, then who wants to say that the suspicion wasn't reasonable?
I both think the kid's kind of a douche and am glad there there are some douches out there keeping authorities accountable.
I do wonder what would happen these days if you drove your pickup through town with your long guns on a rack in the back window, as I saw regularly when I was kid.
I do wonder what would happen these days if you drove your pickup through town with your long guns on a rack in the back window, as I saw regularly when I was kid.
Nothing. I do this now, with a WSM .300 and my favorite semi-auto shotgun.
The reason people don't do it regularly any more is because their guns get stolen, not because it's illegal.
Rage
If I was in Ohio and saw this Terry guy walking down the street with weapons I would've just run him over and not stopped.
Wish you didn't tell anybody in Wise County...look for it!
Great cop, no question.
"And I didn't think such a thing ever happened."
I'm not clear on "what" such thing you didn't think ever happened? The way the cop acted, the way the kid acted, a gun carried in the open, or what?
I carry concealed, legally, and like most everyone who does, make every attempt to keep as low a profile as possible regarding that fact. I don't really think about it much, and I don't want others that I come into contact with to do so, either. That kid in the video is a train wreck. His behavior is the result of poor parenting and other adult role modeling during his upbringing. His parents did him no favor by raising him in the indulgent way that they did. He will go thru life frustrated and unhappy. He was very fortunate and also careful in this incident. He will pull some stunt like this in the future, but due to his arrogance, he will make a careless mistake. He will someday bring great grief to people that care about him and to himself because of it. He and they will blame his situation at that time on others, and accept no personal responsibility.
Very sad.
Rage -- are you someplace rural? I agree that I wouldn't do it because they'd get stolen. For a similar reason, I won't put an NRA sticker on my truck.
But I also think that you'd get stopped in most big cities. I certain you'd be stopped in Dallas, probably for some pretext ("you appeared to be weaving within your lane!"), and then questioned about the guns.
Being a douche-bag, like this kid, is also protected.
Where is RAGE???
Obviously someone has snatched him/her because I have agreed with his last few posts.
Cop did an excellent job here... you were right, the kid was looking for a fight, but the cop took him down in a way he didn't expect.
Great video!
Need some clarification... In Texas, can you open-carry a handgun, or just a long gun?
Here's another little known fact in Texas..A woman can walk down the street without a top on and it's ok as long as no one makes a complaint.
Reason is is that Boobs are not considered sexual organs.
Somebody call the RTG chick ASAP and let her know this.
I like the Penile Codes.
The Government is here to serve us, not the other way around. Never forget it.
Rage -- are you someplace rural? I agree that I wouldn't do it because they'd get stolen. For a similar reason, I won't put an NRA sticker on my truck.
I am in Houston about 50% of the time, and a rural county the other 50%.
But I also think that you'd get stopped in most big cities. I certain you'd be stopped in Dallas, probably for some pretext ("you appeared to be weaving within your lane!"), and then questioned about the guns.
Getting pulled over doesn't mean you did anything illegal. DCSO will take you out and arrest you, even, like they did to a friend of mine who had several of his long guns in the back of his suburban. I have never been pulled over for it in Houston, but have never done it in Dallas--well, not in the last 20 years. I have family in Dallas that I used to visit and a time or two went in the truck with a rifle rack.
Here's another little known fact in Texas..A woman can walk down the street without a top on and it's ok as long as no one makes a complaint.
It's also illegal to spit on a sidewalk (transmits TB--and people used to be barefoot a lot in the 1800's), and in many places it's still illegal to carry wire cutters on your person (because of the old range wars where they used to cut fences to get to water--at some cattlemen's balls you'll see people carrying wire cutters as a throwback joke/sign of disrespect).
Rage
I think lots of folks already know that it's legal to carry a rifle for no reason. Most of us don't because there is no good reason
They were obviously looking for a confrontation, that is a stupid reason to carry a firearm and not the reason the second amendment was written. I enjoyed the way the officer handled them, he countered every point they tried to make.
Most of us don't because there is no good reason
Uhhh, there's no bad reason.
Rage
I always found a rifle handy to have around at all times. Plus, my son Mark never smarted off to me.
DF Lucas McCain
I wonder if it's illegal for Rage to breath.(?)
If it isn't, it should be.
Wouldit be legal to carry that gun at the Decatur ISD football field if they had turf? Tha't the real question here.
Cop did an excellent job.
Well, I'll be the first to comment on this aspect: the officer is hot!
If he would have been in Rhome, he would be considered an average nutcase.
2:03, really? You were able to draw all those conclusions from this video?
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