Not down with OOP
Via KAG, comes a tale from Nashville:
Federal law said many people served with orders of protection cannot possess a gun, and local judges routinely issue orders to these people saying they have to give up their guns.
But the orders don’t say where that gun is supposed to go or for how long anyone has to give it up.
There has never been a gun turned into Metro courts or to Metro police.
There’s no mechanism to give them up, and there is no one in Nashville’s justice system making sure the accused actually hand them over.
Another law passed without any enforcement provision? I can’t get too worked up about it. After all, the horrid Lautenberg amendment denies individuals their civil rights without due process of law. An order of protection is not a conviction of anything and is often a he said/she said scenario.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Here’s a trick. Say I want to kill or kidnap someone and I know they generally travel armed. I file a Protection Order using a false ID and get a judge to sign it. Once I know the order is served, I got about two weeks (probably) where my victim will be unarmed while away from the home (until the court date, when a judge will likely toss the order for lack of standing since I won’t be showing up).
Would the victims family have standing to argue against the amendment in court?
November 20th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
And amazingly enough, nobody in the Police Department or the Clerk of Court’s office has complained about having no mechanism to receive, inventory, maintain, store, or return firearms surrendered under this requirement….
There is a basic principal involved here – EFT. Easier for Them. It has been easier all these years for the authorities to ignore the issue, than to raise it and have more work, expense, liability, and risk.
I can’t imagine the nice people who take money for traffic tickets, usually behind bullet proof glass, would like to have to take possession of long guns and hand guns being turned in by potentially irate or actually violent people. Same goes for the police officer at the PD front desk. If somebody walks in with a shotgun or AR15 cradled in their arms, much mistaken actions can ensue – like shooting an innocent civilian.
So they handled it with EFT via silence – Easier for Them.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
orders of protection are the most horrendous example of taking people’s rights for little or no reason and judge swann in knoxville is more than happy to take away gun ownership rights of hundreds if not thousands of men a year (a few women, also). this terrible law needs to be changed.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:53 am
OK, love the post, of course, but – am I the only one who reads all the post titles first because they’re so hysterically funny? This is the best one in a long time!