Preferential treatment for cops' kin?
IT WAS just after midnight. Brian Westberry and a woman friend sat frozen in his bedroom, hoping the persistent pounding on the front door of his Northeast Philly home would stop. It didn't.It gets worse. A lot worse. Read the article. See what happens when the wrong people do the wrong thing for the wrong reason. Westberry was arrested. He was charged with assault. He had his firearms confiscated under a domestic violence ordinance. All because the person who attacked him was related to the police. Malfeasance on the police officers aside, this is what I wanted to comment on:
Westberry, 24, slipped his licensed .38-caliber revolver into his pants pocket and crept downstairs to open the door.
There stood Gregory Cujdik, 32, who demanded to see "Jen," his girlfriend. Westberry told him "Jen" didn't want to see him, and repeatedly ordered Cujdik to leave. When Cujdik refused, Westberry threatened to call police.
" 'Do it. My family are cops,' " Cujdik said, according to Westberry.
Eight days later, on April 13, Westberry was surprised to see Eberhart and two special agents with the state Attorney General's Gun Violence Task Force at his front door. They asked to see his guns. An avid gun collector, Westberry had 40 guns, all legal, all registered and all locked up.
"I'm thinking they just want to verify the serial numbers, verify that everything I own is legit," Westberry said.
But they confiscated his guns and said that they had a warrant for his arrest.
Got that? His REGISTERED firearms were CONFISCATED as a result of this bogus arrest. Because the dude who sucker-punched him was related to cops, he was put through the ringer. And because his guns were registered, they were easy pickings for an overzealous cop with an axe to grind and a badge to hide behind.
Imagine what an overzealous US Attorney General could do...
That is all.
24 comments:
One of the dangers of gun registration is that they know you have them.
This is the reason that the "gun buy back" in 1997 here in Western Australia was so "successful" - all our guns were registered - they knew we had them!
Unregistered guns were only turned in if owners didn't want the guns / wanted the money more!
I would encourage anyone where registration isn't currently mandatory to fight any introduction of such a system.
We should track reports of registration=confiscation like you do with goblin counts. At least give them blog category.
I don't see anything in the linked article about whether or not he got his collection of guns back. Did he?
Imagine what an overzealous US Attorney General could do...
I have held for years that before you give any power to any government, you should imagine what an Opposition agent could do with that power. Gun registration is only one example. Others include soft-warrant or no-warrant searches, GPS tracking in cars and cellphones, more rights for criminal or terrorism suspects, fewer rights for criminal or terrorism suspects...
Better yet, there should be massive support for Westberry, make a campaign of it, fundraise for appeals and lobby for rescinding the charges completely, and sue crap out of everyone, individually and collectively.
*fumes*
Even here in Sweden, there's no way that would fly. Even if the investigation wasn't droped, it wouldn't go to court due to lack of evidence, and if for some bizarre reason it did, he'd be acquitted(we're allowed to use force to get someone off the premises if they refuse to leave after being told to. I have done so myself, had a complaint filed, and the charges droped in the investigation phase).
PS: That was with me striking the first blow(punched his mouth, which finally made him leave), and charges were droped because I did not break the law in doing so, as covered in the self-defense law(belligerant drunk neighbor overstayed his welcome).
Oh Jay. You've hit a nerve with me on this one. And before I forget, thank you for the morning installment of RCOB. It usually takes until noon or 1pm before I have my daily RCOB.
Everyone's favorite evil despot, Adolf "The paper-hanging son of a bitch" Hitler used firearms registration rolls left over from the Wiemar Republic to confiscate the arms of those who would oppose him. Stalin largely did the same thing as head of the USSR. Anyone, especially any Jew (FUCK YOU "SENATORS" CHARLES SCHUMER & DIANE FEINSTEIN) who is in favor of registration ought to be taken behind the woodshed and beaten until they come to their senses.
And if you think my idea is radical, you should read what JPFO (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) has to say on the subject.
- Brad
Jay,
On the subject of the police, I wonder if you've heard anything new about a story up in your area. It was in or near Albany, NY. The widow of a retired police officer brought several guns into a gunshop to be appraised and/or sold. The store owner examined the guns and their serial numbers and found that one of them was a full-automatic machine gun, manufactured after 1986. As part of "due diligence", he told the ATF. They investigated and found that the gun had been purchased by a local police department. The ATF went to the police dept. and inventoried their guns. They found that this PD had a very large number of machine guns "in inventory" but none could be produced. Newspaper reports suggested that the guns had been bought "under the table" by individual cops for their personal use. And that's where the story ended. I have seen no more media reports on this story. That was two years ago, I think.
Bearing in mind the almost ferocious aggressiveness of the ATF in dealing with unlawfully owned machine guns - they've busted people in possession of shoelaces, fer cryin' out loud, if they thought they were being used to "bump-fire" a semi-automatic, and they've busted people with defective guns that "doubled" when fired - the two-year silence on this investigation makes me think that the police officers are getting special treatment. To put it mildly!
The left-wing has historically been for registration.
"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."
- Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Turk Turon:
The ATF is a gang of miserable pricks, but even they don't go after widows and orphans. Only the IRS would stoop so low.
Tank,
ATF registration records on MGs are miserably screwed up. I think there was a recent case, (Friesen?) resulting in the judge ruling the ATFs record keeping system was inadequate due to a large number of incorrect records.
Yes, they have a longstanding record of bullying widows and heirs. Most offen, a decent NFA attourney will shut them up.
This is not really a case of registration=confiscation. This happened in PA where there is no gun registration. There is also no license to buy either. This has more to do to with how bad things are in Philly and reason #1 to always deal with cops (outside of a traffic stop) through a lawyer.
I can't find the source article anywhere - can you post it?
It's in my original post - click the link in the phrase "Preferential treatment for cops' kin?"
It's actually illegal for teh state or local government to maintain a gun registry in Pennsylvania:
18 Pa.C.S. § 6111.4: Registration of firearms
Notwithstanding any section of this chapter to the contrary, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow any government or law enforcement agency or any agent thereof to create, maintain or operate any registry of firearm ownership within this Commonwealth. For the purposes of this section only, the term "firearm" shall include any weapon that is designed to or may readily be converted to expel any projectile by the action of an explosive or the frame or receiver of any such weapon.
A similar situation happened to my father in Mass.
I'm staying in NH, I'll be damned if I move back to that state.
And the left wonders why we are so leery and concerned about our Government. Need to buy more "unregistered" guns I guess!
The Pennsylvania State Police maintain that it is not a registry, it is a "sale database". **rolls eyes**
The ATF is a gang of miserable pricks, but even they don't go after widows and orphans. Only the IRS would stoop so low.
Naww, they just shoot them.
How do any of you get around not registering your guns? The Feds get 10 days to check you out before you can pick it up.
To anonymous, here in Colorado there is no waiting period, instant check and out the door. If it’s a personal sale, not even that. The last pistol I bought, I walked in to the shop as the owner was buying a Glock from a guy selling off his collection and when he was done I bought one for a little over what he paid for it. Total time in shop, 15 minutes.
10 day waiting period?
Don't know where you are but vote the bums out!!
Where I am? Walk in. Pay for it. Walk out....Done deal.
-GUNS! What guns?
They record your purchase of a firearm. That's registration.
We gun owners are in denial. There is no "official" registration in PA or many states.
However, there is an "unofficial" registration database. Just ask an 80 yr old woman in Delaware.
"You need to register your weapons with post," they say.
Bwa hahahahah! Not a chance in hell.
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