Texas Dad arrested for having a rifle?

truckemup97

truckemup97

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You don't just come up from behind a guy and grab his firearm. The officer made a few mistakes, there.

Then again, you don't go walking in the woods with Boy Scouts with an MSR slung over your shoulder. It violates BSA policy, and if he's a registered Scouter, he should be removed.


Except for (1) law enforcement officers required to carry firearms within their jurisdiction, and (2) circumstances within the scope of the BSA hunting policy statement, firearms should not be in the possession of any person engaged in camping, hiking, backpacking, or any other Scouting activity other than those specifically planned for target shooting under the supervision of a certified firearms instructor. (Among the purposes of this policy is to prohibit adult leaders from bringing firearms on BSA camping and hiking activities or to unit meetings.)
 
I know Texas is funny about open carry! But the officer and his supervisor are in need on how to treat non-threatening citizens! I am hoping that the police have to pay a rather large settlement, as this seems to be the only way they learn!
 
There are three sides to this story,..... his, the officers, and the truth. If it did happen even remotely as he claims I would nt want to be in that officers shoes or the city for that matter as a civil suite is sure to come and rightfully so.
 
I am lead to believe you are not under arrest until told so by the police officer, and what you are being charged with. As for the officer pulling his service weapon when there was no threat appears to be a bit rash. Grabbing a weapon from someone is not safe, asking if the man would allow the officer to secure the weapon until the interview was over would have been better. But both come across as hard asses. I think both men could have handled the situation better. The child was treated poorly by the second officer and did violate the child right to have a parent present during the interview. If it were me I would be up in the Sheriffs face, and the Attorney General face about lost of his civil rights. I have worked with some really good cops and seen them deal with some pretty angry people but they always, always kept the cool even when an arrest needed to be made. There are a few cops that think they are God because they have a badge and a gun, they forget they are public SERVENTS.
 
I dont pretend to know what texas law is but it does seem a little over the top. In 1960 I was involved in a similar incident but several laws were broke.
I was working for the national park service in yosemite. In 1960 all firearms were banned from use within the parks. There was a "begger" coyote that allways worked a turn out near the glacier point intersection.
I was rideing with my boss in a truck. He was the aggresive gung ho type, but still I think was in his/our rights and I did afterwards admire his nerve in this incident although he wasnt my favorite person.
We came around a curve and I couldnt belive what I was seeing. Several vehicles were pulled over. A woman had her arm stretched out with a hunk of bread or something to feed the coyote. Not smart, signs not to do it etc but many people do.
What was wrong was a fellow was "injuning" around his car with a shotgun obvisely to get a shot at the coyote she was feeding!
Boss man stopped the truck between him and her feeding the coyote. We were not armed, as we worked as blister rust checkers, not rangers.
Boss pulled up within a foot or two, got out and said, "Okay fella, give me the gun!" Aint nobody gonna take muh gun! Boss grabbed it and neither was going to let go! I was rideing passenger and piled on a few secounds later, the time it took to get out and go around the truck. Well when I got in it he gave up.
I actualy felt kind of bad about it as this guy had a couple kids and wife watching and I hate demeaning someone in front of their family. Actualy I recall several more incidents through the years on other jobs and always hated haveing the family see their father hero look bad.
In retrospect I belive we could have accomplished the same thing with a little straight talk instead of the boss diveing in immediately but I could be wrong too and that would have been much worse.
Anyway we did what amounted to a citizens arrest and some bystanders followed us takeing him to the ranger station and wrote up some atta boys.
I think this guy was sort of a redneck city slicker that soon as he crossed the gate entrance thought he was in a different world. We seen similar everyday on that job. You know, someone see`s a animal, locks the brakes up and bails out with a camera leaveing the car in the middle of the road around a blind curve.
Its a old story with two sides to it. Do you explode like gangbusters or do you be a nice guy like ed masterson and get yourself killed? (The movie about wyatt earp)
 
Sorry OP, I gotta criticize the cops, especially the arresting officer. Totally over reacted and should have been more communicative as to why he was stopping the guy and his son. I'll bet had the cop asked questions and not been so confrontational to the guy they could have talked it out and ended much calmer for all.

Too bad I'm not in that county, I'd love to be on that jury, I'd give the guy a big settlement.
 
It wasn't a Scout activity. it was a father and son hiking to fulfill a requirement for an advancement.

the whole thing is sad. an anonymous phone complaint.
 
I was not there and don't know what happened. That being said, when I was stationed at nearby Ft. Hood, the Temple PD had the reputation of being somewhat over zealous when it came to their relations with the military. I understand this guy was military. In Texas it is generally legal to openly carry a long gun in public. Open carry of a pistol is prohibited except while hunting, shooting range, own property etc.
 
I read the text and watched the video. I saw 3 police officers. 2 of the officers had a nice crop of gray hair. One would hope that age and wisdom might prevail.
I would love to see the chief get after these officers, not just a little talk over coffee. However, we all know that the incident will probably be swept under the rug.
Don't get the wrong idea, some of my closest friends are law enforcement. But even they admit to having colleagues that should not be given a badge and some authority.
 
Not to be contrarian but given the media publicity on this, I don't think it will be swept under the rug this time. If I understood the end of the video correctly (pretty windy), the arresting officer appeared to tell him that he was being charged with resisting arrest. I didn't see any resistance whatsoever.
 
I hang my head in shame, for the good folks of Temple and the whole of Texas, over this here.

It's a sad day when our law enforcement officers act in such a manner.

It's officers such as these and their blatant abuse of power, such as this, that give the rest of us a black eye.

I've made arrests of violent felons without treating them in such a overbearing manner.

Hope the courts straightens this one out.


.
 
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I'll have to watch the rest of this....

truckemup97 said:
Decorated Vet Arrested After ?Rudely Displaying? His Rifle ? and Says Officer Pulled Gun on Him in Front of Boy Scouts | Video | TheBlaze.com

Just wondering what your thoughts are on this? I don't think I would be carrying an AR-15 on a hike in Texas, but I'm pretty sure the cops were over the line, too. The treatment of the son is shameful.

Please, no cop-bashing. Most of them are pretty good folks.
Click to expand...

I'll have to watch the rest of this later. It's too disturbing. Unless he actually sues them they are going to be 'in the right' no matter what he says and even if he succeeds he will have some phony charge against him, like "threatening the officer" just to make sure that he is a criminal. There was another thread on here where someone complained about a concealed gun and the officer explained to them that he was doing nothing illegal. The officer should have asked him if he had license to carry and let him go. I suppose Texas is going to be the next one to enact draconian gun laws.
 
keith44spl is 110% right, I'm retired military and LEO and I have to say that was outrageous behavior on the part of the police. I'm constantly reminded of the old adage,"if you want to see what kind of person a man[or woman] is, give them a little authority and watch what they do with it".Those cops were not only arrogant, they were ignorant! They would not have worked for me long enough to wipe their britches on the way out the door. AND... that is the rest of MY story. Nick
 
It wasn't with a group of scouts

jlrhiner said:
It wasn't a Scout activity. it was a father and son hiking to fulfill a requirement for an advancement.

the whole thing is sad. an anonymous phone complaint.
Click to expand...

Isn't the requirement for advancement a scout activity?
It did say that they were documenting a 10 mile hike which is a scout requirement. The only question is whether or not they were allowed to fulfill their requirements by themselves or with a scheduled group. Even so, whether they were officially in a scouting activity isn't the main point. It shouldn't have happened the way it did.

I wonder what the people that called thought the man was doing while hiking down the road with a kid?
 
Hmmmm. Let me see if I've got this one straight. They arrested him for resisting arrest for being arrested for something that was totally legal. Now that right there doesn't make much sense to me.

Not to mention the fact that they illegally detained and questioned a minor without a parent present.

Gonna be interesting to see how this one plays out.
 
rwsmith said:
Isn't the requirement for advancement a scout activity?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. It can be, but doesn't have to be. Think about the same father/son scenario sitting at the kitchen table learning the proper care and use of a pocket knife. An "official" BSA function would have had two-deep leadership. I saw no indication of another adult or any other Scouts.
 
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