Posted on 12/30/2014 10:13:46 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
A year ago this New Year’s Eve, John Filippidis of Florida was driving south with his family on Interstate 95 when the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled over his black Ford Expedition and proceeded to raid it while his twins, wife and daughter looked on — separated in the back seats of different police cruisers.
The officers were searching for Mr. Filippidis‘ Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun, which he left at home locked in his safe. (Maryland does not recognize handgun permits issued by other states.)
When the search turned up nothing, Mr. Filippidis, 51, was allowed to go and was issued only a speeding warning.
The incident gained national attention. Mr. Filippidis went on multiple radio programs and described in detail how scared and outraged he and his family were. He wondered: How did the police know he was licensed for concealed carry, and what right did they have to search through his personal items on the side of the busy interstate filled with holiday travelers on that 10-degree day?
“My wife’s hysterical, shaking and crying,” Mr. Filippidis recalled in an interview with The Washington Times. “I don’t have a criminal record. I own a business. I’m a family man, and I tried to explain that to [the officer]. But he had a bad attitude, didn’t want to hear my story. He just wanted to find that gun and take me away from my family. That was his goal, but he couldn’t do it, because I didn’t have a gun, like I told him.”
Mr. Filippidis‘ case earned the support of Second Amendment advocates and subsequent apologies from the MDTA. But an internal police review concluded his stop and search were lawful and did not violate police protocols.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
“A smart CCW holder would leave his car at home and rent if they plan on going on a road trip through Commieland Stasi states like Maryland.”
Rental cars are identified by the license plate as such. Any rental car is also a red flag for ‘drug dealer’ and will be stopped for any reason at all.
The reason drug dealers use rental cars is because if busted they take the car. Rental or old beater car are cop magnets.
A Kel-Tec .38 semi-auto? Didn`t know they made them. I have heard of the .380 that they make, I would guess that`s a .38 super, right?
Wondering what questions an officer can require you to answer vs. what can be refused. Does refusal to answer constitute probable cause?
--unfortunately,the "full faith and credit " clause in the Constitution has not been applied to concealed weapons permits, leaving them the same as bar registration (lawyers), cosmetologist licensing, engineering registration, etc.,--
I’m CCW in FLA. There is no specific license for guns. The writer knew from discussions with Fillipidis what kind of gun he had and included it in the article.
My cousin, living in SC, got a Utah CCW license to cover him in states that don’t recognize SC.
Why has no one asked this question? “HOW DID THE STATE OF MARYLAND, OR ANY OTHER STATE KNOW THAT HE HAD A LICENSE TO “CONCEAL CARRY”? Because the idea that all these REGISTERED WEAPONS that these people have, is not and never will be kept in a “LOCKED BOX”. Mark my words, at some time in the future, the government will pass a law that ALL REGISTERED WEAPONS must be turned in to the government or face the government’s wrath. This happened in Germany, during the Wiemar government. The citizens were told by the Wiemar government that registering their weapons will be kept in a “LOCKED BOX”. Then came Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. Any citizen that is foolish enough or stupid enough to believe this government or any government, that they are just here to “PROTECT” them, will realize, at some future date, that they have made a deal with the devil.
Federal laws require all states to permit drive through with locked and unloaded arms of any nationally legal type as long as you’re just passing through. Of course the current regime will not back you on this
How did they know he had a weapons permit and able to single him out?
I live in MD and drive about 70 miles a day with a NRA sticker on my car. The only interaction I’ve had with police was a few weeks ago. One of Maryland’s finest was so intent on pulling someone else over he would have hit me had I not hit the horn and taken evasive action. A bit later I had a chat with his duty sergeant and suggested some remedial driving classes for the officer.
He ran his out of state drivers license and the guys state links to the fact that he has a CCW
The current regime in SC should change their law and allow reciprocal concealed carry.
Ref:”“...The officers were searching for Mr. Filippidis‘
Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun...”
That IS what the article says.”
Unfortunately, the author caused the confusion. If he had simply looked it up, he would have seen that Florida has no weapons registration. Only individuals are licensed to carry concealed. He probably used the owner’s description of the weapon itself — and probably still got that wrong.... the palm-sized Kel-Tec usually comes in the .380 which is a shorter cartridge then the standard .38.
I have NRA life member stickers and NYSRPA sticker on my truck. My BIL recently gave me a MOLON LABE sticker. I probably WONT put that one on. Though I 100% agree with the ‘Come And Take It’ philosophy, I do not want a LEO to take me up on it as if it was a dare. MOLON LABE to me, is for when the SHTF.....Which in this regime could be any day now
I'm not cutting my sleeves off for anyone.
Cops ARE becoming more aggressive. SWAT raids across America have soared. The Rutherford institute, a conservative organization that tracks police militarization and abuses lend an eye opening review of cases of mistaken identity, bad police intelligence, unlawful searches/detentions, official oppression cases.
It's not just a few. There are thousands of cases documented of innocent law abiding folks/families being injured or killed by cops and official of various agencies.
If we had no officers, life in America would be utter chaos. With that, bad apples MUST be weeded out of LE. Aggressive tactics against law abiding citizens needs to stop. Our nation was founded upon a set of principles that ensure rights for citizens that live by the rule of law.
Today, most LEOs are being militarized and their tactics are becoming increasingly aggressive. Many many cases of trumped up probable cause or no probable cause at all used to upend innocent civilians lives. Way too many SWAT raids for minor offenses or mistaken intelligence (wrong homes/businesses) and illegally obtained evidence allowed in cases. Warrant-less searches, Dui checkpoints, forced blood draws, ALPR’s, surveillance cameras at every street corner, drones, spying on ccard purchases, internet browsing, phone conversations/records w/o a warrant.
There must be checks and balances. The notion the blue can do no wrong or if you're not doing anything wrong, then let us search mentality strips us all of our rights to be secure in privacy and some reasonable anonymity in society. Do we want to be a super surveilled society? Do we want to live in a scenario of 1984?
We’ve lost a lot since DRED SCOTT VS SANFORD stated that one of the rights a citizen of the USA has is the right... “to KEEP AND CARRY ARMS wherever they went.”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0060_0393_ZO.html
Wondering what questions an officer can require you to answer vs. what can be refused. Does refusal to answer constitute probable cause?
...
They can ask for your license, your name, where you are coming from and where you are going, and whether you have any weapons. They can also do a pat down. When the wife said the gun might be in the car, that probably gave the officers the opening they needed to search the car according to MD law.
Say as little as possible and ask if you are free to go whenever possible. As soon as they say you are free to go, then go.
New York has a system whereby police can attach notes when they run your plate during a traffic stop.
“Hunting knife in center console”. ..or... “Baseball bat behind seat.” ...or... “Shotgun in trunk”. ...or... “Suspicious tools in trunk, possibly burglary tools”. ...or... “IV needles in glove box, claims to be diabetic”. ....or... “Seen at 2A or Tea Party rally.” So on, you name it....endlessly.
There was a big story a few years back where a private investigator has keeping (legally) some kind of takedown or folding rifle in a locked box bolted in the back of his SUV. He was stopped and that was noted in the system. Weeks later he was stopped, the note came up and four police cruisers showed up. Lotta hoopla.
You can be systematically harassed via such a system.
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