The answer is always no
Police also plan to ask home owners at times for consent to search their homes without a probable-cause warrant, District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said Monday.
“If we go to a house, we’re going to ask the owner of the house if they will consent to a search for illegal weapons,” Abraham said at a news conference. “Any gun that we can find that way is one more gun we can get off the street.”
I expect a rise in the number of consensual searches that get to court and the home-owner swears up and down they did not consent. And exactly how does a police officer determine if a weapon is illegal by looking at it?
December 13th, 2006 at 10:55 am
Philly and other big city areas really are becoming police states.
This reminds me of the Bruce Willis movie, The Fifth Element. In the future presented in this movie, people needed to bend over and put their hands against a painted circle on the wall when the police came calling. If the “citizen” didn’t comply, they were blown away.
December 13th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
And how many more no-knock warrants will be served later that night when someone politely declines to allow a search?
December 13th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
That’s easy. I’d bet any gun they see is an “illegal gun”. Philadelphia has been known to take guns from people and not give them back. Someone on the LJ guns community drew his pistol in self-defense against a knife wielding homeless person and was later picked up by police and charged with carrying a weapon without a license (he had a license), simple assault, and a few other things. Thanks to our lovely “illegal” state police registry, they served a warrant on his house and took all the guns there too, and didn’t give them back. Charges were later dismissed. The irony of it is, the city revoked his license to carry under what I call the “escape clause” in Pennsylvania’s carry law, that gives the sheriff, or in the case of Philadelphia, the Chief of Police, some discretion to deny licenses to “individual whose character and reputation is such that the individual would be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.” The fact that Philadelphia abuses this discretion is widely known, and while you can appeal a denial, in Philadelphia, the appeals board is stacked with Street appointees who will generally not overturn a denial.
The lesson here is:
a) The City of Philadelphia doesn’t like armed citizens. If you use your weapon, you will be arrested and they will take it from you and you’ll probably have to sue to get it back even if charges are dropped or they fail to win conviction. If you have a license issued by the city, they’ll revoke it. You’ll have to go through a lengthy suit through the court system to fight for return of your guns and your license.
b) If you ever draw on someone in self-defense, call the police immediately to report the criminal. You don’t know who might have witnessed or who might call the police and report _you_ as the bad guy. Make sure they hear your side of the story first. If they arrest you, don’t say anything and talk to a lawyer.
c) The city of Philadelphia is run by slimy and sleazy politicians that would rather harass law abiding gun owners than actually deal with the crime problem plaguing the city. The best solution is not to live there.
December 13th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Just knocking on the door and asking without probable cause to believe that there is an illegal weapon inside is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. If I lived in Philadelphia, I would make a criminal complaint against Lynne M. Abraham with the FBI for conspiracy to violate my civil rights.
December 13th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Who do you call when the police violate your rights? Do you call the police? You just have to love Blue State ideology.
December 13th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
Normally many of the so-called civil libertarians SAY they want to keep the government out of our bedrooms, except when it comes to the government searching bedrooms for “illegal weapons”–then they are for violating every civil liberty.
According to ALL of the Bill of Rights for ALL Citizens, there are no “illegal weapons”, only illegal acts with weapons–like these government searches.
“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government. So let us tie down the second with the chains of the Constituion, so it doesn’t become the legalized version of the first.” –Thomas Jefferson