posted on Apr, 17 2009 @ 05:59 AM
About a year ago, I was sitting at home watching tv and I heard a knock on my door.
"Police department."
I looked out the peep hole and saw two officers standing back away from my porch. I opened the door and next thing I know, I have 3 pistols and an
AR-15 pointed at me and a dog barking in my ear as I am being handcuffed.
I didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening to me before I was being patted down. I was so caught off guard and confused as to what had
just happened and the questions started.
"Is there any firearms in the home?" "Yes. Why?"
"Is there anyone else inside?" "No. Did something happened?"
"Have you had anything to drink tonight?" "No."
I didn't know what to do but answer them because I still had no idea what had happened.
"Where are the firearms located." "In my safe where they always are."
"Where is the safe?" "In my bedroom. What is going on?"
Apparently, a neighbor that I had been having problems with had called the police and told them I was threaten to shoot myself. I hadn't even been
outside since I got home from work and I certainly hadn't said anything like that.
I told them this was completely unfounded and there was no basis for their visit. I asked them if I was under arrest. They said I was being detained
for their safety. They called in my name and I came back with no wants.
They asked again about my firearms. I told them it was still locked in the safe. They asked if there was a combination and I said yes. They asked for
the combo and I told them no. I finally caught up to what was going on.
"Well we can take you to jail for obstruction and get a search warrant, destroy your house and your safe or you can let us see your firearm so we can
run it to make sure it isn't stolen."
It's funny what seems logical when there is a man dressed in SWAT gear holding an AR-15 standing next to you. I told them the combo. To make a long
story short, my pistol was confiscated and I was brought to the County Mental Health Dept. for an evaluation. Oh and I guess me giving them the combo
to my safe was also granting them permission to search the rest of my house too.
I told the nurse what happened and she seemed annoyed as if this kind of thing happens all the time. She signed off saying that I wasn't suicidal and
I was free to go.
I don't know about other states but in California, to get your firearm back from a Police Dept. property room you have to send an application to the
Dept of Justice along with a small fee. They will run a full background check on you to make sure you are legally allowed to own firearms. Part of
this involves requesting the report from the Police who may or may not give the DoJ the report. In my case, they didn't. I attempted to get a copy
myself and I was told that I was not allowed to review it because I was not the victim. At first I thought maybe it was my neighbor but from a person
at the DoJ that probably told me too much that they usually assign the State of California as the "victim" in cases like this.
After 6 months of going around and around with the DoJ sending request after request I finally escalated my application enough to someone that finally
said she would make some calls and get the report. She was the first person in 6 months of calling the DoJ every week that actually listened to my
story and did something. I had my firearm back within 2 days.
What I learned from this was that the Police are not your friends, they are not on your side and they will lie to you to manipulate you into doing
what they want. They do not care about your rights and, if you let them, they will walk all over you.
I was treated like a criminal and all I was doing was watching the ballgame in my own home.