Thursday, January 23, 2014

What?!? Again in Texas?

Guns Rights Group Says Member Unlawfully Arrested for Carrying Rifle in Public

12 comments:

SWIFT said...

This will be a never ending fight. Last July, in the left-wing shit hole of Erie, Pennsylvania, a local group held an open carry rally in a city park. Police, using a 1970's ordinance, watched attendees exiting vehicles, then wrote down license plate numbers and cited eight of them with $300. fines. A local judge found them guilty. They appealed and won last week. The group is getting it's ducks in order, to sue the City of Erie. The appeals process is expensive, not to mention that no Erie attorney would take the case. The group had to go down state to get representation. Stupidity should be painful and the City of Erie and PD will find that out now. Yes, the tax payer will foot the bill, but Erie PD gets the black eye. Always a big plus!

Anonymous said...

All I can say is these cops need to be more careful that they are arresting a REAL criminal and if they make an arrest not based on any law and unconstitutionally, they need to be resisted by any means necessary, up to and including deadly force.
. Sincerely,
. Paul Paver III

Dakota said...

I can't imagine why anyone would be surprised that the "great" State of Texas would do this. I hate Texas, I hate their way of doing things in government, and their cops are all thugs. Want to be free ..... move to Oklahoma.

WarriorClass III said...

Texas is becoming a police state; too many foreigners from the US and abroad are now here that have no appreciation for the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Too many big cities. I'm seriously looking at Montana as a new home.

Very seriously.

Anonymous said...

So much for how "free" Texans say they are.

Group should change its name from "Come and take it" to "Come and take it and I'll bend over while you do so".

What a dumb name.....you bastardize Molon Labe, a phrase that implies you'll fight if someone tries to disarm you....and then your group goes out and stages incidents which will foreseeably result in a police response and then they just give up their weapons?

Longbow said...

The Cops are NOT there to be "your friend". They are not "the good guys". Their purpose is to impose the power of the State upon you. This man was arrested on patently false charges. The cops knew the charges were patently false, but they did it anyway. Does that sound like the actions of "good men"?

That being said, this case will probably go nowhere. Andrews is a small town just north of Odessa. The prosecutor probably will not peruse this unless he has designs on higher office.

What of the cops who arrested the man falsely? They will continue imposing the power of the State arbitrarily, and at their whim... because they can.

Anonymous said...

To the claim about representation -

Folks have to be smart enough to request a public defender but ONLY use them for PROCESS and FORM while waging the CONTENT of defense YOURSELF. Novel thought huh? DEFEND YOURSELF before that jury!

If you are willing to protest openly then you have to be willing to defend YOURSELF - and as for Molon labe - I would consider fighting back in court just as much exercise of it as shooting back to avoid arrest. In many ways I would call it smarter exercise.

My local police chief and deputies know full well that I reject my states prohibitions. They don't hassle me for two reasons. 1) they know I aim to do nothing but exercise my rights and 2) that they don't want to open that can of worms with me because they know full well I will defend myself - in a court of law.

I guess that is one benefit of small town USA. those police forces tend to think harder before going all JBT on local residents.

A Reader said...

Dakota, I'll keep Texas and defend it, thank you. Year before last, I had to cross OK to get to NE. I had to stop at the state line to put my guns in the trunk and then just over the Kansas line to get them back out again. I shouldn't have to ask permission for any of it, but the fact is that if Texas is not free, then Oklahoma is also unfree, except in different ways. We are both at least more free than NY, NJ, CA, I'LL, CO, MD, and so forth.

It does no good to run anymore. We must stand together, each of us where he is, and leave behind all the pointless bickering. There are petty, tyrannical cops everywhere.

Those who stand outside and judge must understand that sidearm open carry hasn't been legal in Texas since 1878, or then-abouts. Long gun open carry was once normal, I guess, in rural places like Andrews, but even that became unusual over time. We are trying to recover what we lost. Some measures may be more pointful and effective than others. Some of us may try, then falter, or even try and fail.

Anonymous said...

I wonder what it would take to make a phoney rifle that looks like the real deal to see if they would take the bait. If the barrel was either phoney (wood) or plugged with no working parts, would the PoPo know the difference? If I was going to be walking around like this guy, I would love to dangle some bait to see if I could catch an idiot.

Rick said...

To Anonymous at 10:16,
"Come and Take It" is a reference to the Gonzales Flag and the Battle of Gonzales fought in 1835.
This skirmish was the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution. It was pretty insignificant as military actions go, but the events and activities leading up to this action are worth noting.

Regards

Rick

Anonymous said...

A reader -
According to SCOTUS precedent, open carry IS the protected right (concealed being a prohibitable manner while open carry exists). With incorporation in place, that precedent would then apply. Likewise, strict scrutiny to match the First Amendment it must be faced that government isn't empowered to impose open or concealed mandates or bans. It would be like saying government can force people to conceal their bibles or their protest signs. It's pure nonsense.

The point of specific enumeration was to REMOVE FROM THE HANDS OF GOVERNMENT, even the third branch, the POWER to DECIDE on a case by case basis whether a right is really worth insisting upon.

If we cannot choose handgun or long gun, open or concealed, heck single shot, revolver, semi auto or select fire, then what liberty is there?? If government is "deciding" for us, there is no right whatsoever.

You are right. We must stand together. We must refuse to back up even one more inch. We must reject their usurpation and decide for ourselves. Me.... My pistol goes where I go - fuck their permission slip. I declare my rights -both privileges and immunities- and exercise them at my discretion. I'm not bowing. I feel sorry for those who choose to do so - especially when they try to blame everyone but themselves for why they choose to bow.

CowboyDan said...

Anonymous 0934,

Flag corps and drill teams often use M-1lookalikes in their routines. Oftentimes they're badly painted in school colors or red, white, and blue.

Check with your local high school ROTC unit; maybe they'll loan you one.

?good luck.