Free Republic

Are automatic license plate readers in Maryland alerting police when registered gun owners drive past them? Recently we posted a story about John Filippidas, the concealed carry permit holder from Florida who was stopped on I-95 by a Maryland Transportation Authority cop. The cop detained Filippidas and his family for nearly two hours while searching the family’s vehicle for the gun Filippidas legally owns. The gun was in a safe back in Florida. No ticket was issued.

According to Filippidis and his wife, Kally, they noticed an unmarked patrol car tailing them while traveling for Christmas and a family wedding in Woodridge, N.J. He claims the police car stayed with them for ten minutes. “We weren’t speeding. In fact, lots of other cars were whizzing past,” Filippidis told the Tampa Tribune. Eventually, the car’s emergency lights came on and he pulled the car over. The officer was reportedly with the Transportation Authority Police, “Maryland’s version of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority,” according to the report. It appears he was pulled over because of either an automated...

John Filippidis, silver-haired family man, business owner, employer and taxpayer, is also licensed to carry a concealed firearm. He’d rather he didn’t feel the need, “but things aren’t like they used to be. The break-ins, the burglaries, all the crime. And I carry cash a lot of the time. I’m constantly going to the bank. “I wanted to be able to defend my family, my household and the ground I’m standing on. But I’m not looking for any trouble.” Filippidis keeps his gun — a palm-sized Kel-Tec .38 semiautomatic, barely larger than a smartphone in a protective case — in...