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Police treat pro-gun bumper sticker as probable cause for pat down(GA)
Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 17 December, 2010 | David Codrea

Posted on 12/18/2010 7:08:11 AM PST by marktwain

A Second Amendment advocacy leader has released video of his encounter with Sandy Springs, GA police during a traffic stop. Daniel Almond, founder of Restore the Constitution (which includes what the Brady Campaign’s Paul Helmke described as a polite armed Second Amendment rally among its achievements) was pulled over for speeding and a broken light over his rear license plate. That’s when he was ordered out of his car to submit to being frisked.

In Almond’s words:

This is me getting stopped by Sandy Springs PD for speeding. The second thing the officer asked me, after asking for my license, was if I had any firearms. I responded that I was choosing to exercise my right to remain silent on that question. That answer prompted the officer to have me get out of the car for a pat down. The officer told me that the reason for his question (about firearms) was because I had a “right to carry” sticker on my car. Yes, he actually said that. It’s a sticker for Georgia Carry.org (GCO) Although the audio isn’t 100% clear for that part, you can clearly hear him reference the sticker when talking to me and to another officer. Additionally, it appeared as if “back up” had been called, because there were 3 police right cars behind me and two more across the street. In the end, I got a ticket for speeding and for not having a working light bulb over my license plate.

The video is embedded in the sidebar to this column. Aside from the officer referencing the sticker as a cause for his notice and concern, you can hear background conversation among police monitoring the situation, beginning at around 5:50:

(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: banglist; car; codrea; constitution; examiner; gun
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To: magslinger; Vigilantcitizen
I was just kidding VC.

No, I don't think I have driven in the Atlanta area. But I have driven in Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Baltimore, etc. etc. I know exactly what you're talking about.

Heck there are times here in Iowa where you would be impeding traffic on the interstate if you are not doing at least 10 over.

(I'm a salesman so I have a lot of windshield time. Like VC, I fairly regularly have chats with the Highway Patrol, County Sheriffs, and the occasional city cop. I get very few tickets fortunately.)

41 posted on 12/18/2010 9:01:21 AM PST by 2111USMC
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To: 2111USMC
I've driven in Atlanta, Chicago and Denver as well as a few you didn't mention. That includes Karachi, Pakistan, several cities in Japan and Pusan, Korea. If you haven't driven in Atlanta, I don't think you understand that it is in it's own class. There may be somewhere else like it, and if there is, I am not going.

With that said, it is really strange. Atlantans are such nice people when they are not behind a wheel.

42 posted on 12/18/2010 9:17:54 AM PST by magslinger (Samuel Colt, feminist. Making women equal to men for over 150 years.)
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To: magslinger

Pakistan! I’ve heard those f****ers are nuts!


43 posted on 12/18/2010 9:29:39 AM PST by 2111USMC
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To: Vendome
Paul Blart....wannabe

ROFL!


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

44 posted on 12/18/2010 9:55:07 AM PST by The Comedian (Government: Saving people from freedom since time immemorial.)
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To: Leftism is Mentally Deranged

The cop, was most certainly not acting within his limits. In fact, the SCOTUS ruled that cops can only ask questions pertaining to the reason for the stop. And if during that time, the person being questioned answers in a manner resulting in RAS, can the officer go somewhere else with the line of questions. At no point, if this man is telling the whole truth, was it justified for the officer to get him out of the car and do a Terry Frisk...just another shining example of cops thinking they can do whatever they want, b/c us common folks don’t know nothin’...absolutely pathetic abuse of power


45 posted on 12/18/2010 10:18:57 AM PST by qaz123
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To: Cap'n Crunch
My chief is in the IACP and he’s as liberal and anti gun as they come. He won’t even approve of his own retired officers carrying.

He doesn't have to approve, it's federal law. Both candidates Gore and Bush were for it, Bush signed it into law.

46 posted on 12/18/2010 10:26:19 AM PST by Graybeard58
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To: Bryanw92

Why would anyone would assist an LEO in the performance of their duty? The cop has all these legal protections that we don’t. He can’t be sued where we sure as hell can. Does anyone think the City is going to pay for your attorney when the criminal adds your name to the list of people he’s suing for A, B,C, D, E, and F?


47 posted on 12/18/2010 10:35:36 AM PST by B4Ranch (Do NOT remain seated until this ride comes to a full and complete stop! We're going the wrong way!)
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To: Vigilantcitizen

>>I’ve been pulled over by almost every police in the metro Atlanta area.<<

What for?


48 posted on 12/18/2010 10:44:40 AM PST by B4Ranch (Do NOT remain seated until this ride comes to a full and complete stop! We're going the wrong way!)
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To: Leftism is Mentally Deranged
The cop was acting within reasonable limits.

Maybe in Russia.

In the U.S.,

1 - Exercise of a right cannot be probable cause or reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed; and

2 - There is no "pat down for officer safety" exception to the 4th Amendment.

therefore the police officer illegally seized (see #1) and searched (see #2) the driver since the scope of the initial stop was simply a speeding investigation.

There is case law on all three of those points, and if the officer had found a gun and/or the mother-load of all dope in the vehicle all of that evidence would be inadmissible.

That said, I pretty much patted down everyone I came in contact with in an uncontrolled environment and tell other officers to do the same.

And while you may think that patting this guy down was reasonable, I respectfully disagree...I don't think I ever say any thugs with bumper stickers on their cars advocating for second amendment rights.

While I fully acknowledge that most of those pat-downs had no basis in law, I figured it was better for both myself and anyone that would do me harm to go home alive rather than one or both of us go home dead.

49 posted on 12/18/2010 10:46:45 AM PST by Abundy
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To: magslinger
Have you ever driven in the metro Atlanta area? If you drive the limit you'll get run over.

Here is a video made by a bunch of students who drove 55

see what happens to them

50 posted on 12/18/2010 11:19:35 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
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To: Graybeard58

The law says the retiree must qualify once a year with the department they retired from. If the chief wont sign off on the range qualification then they are not legally carrying.


51 posted on 12/18/2010 11:38:06 AM PST by coprtim
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To: B4Ranch

I used to have a bad lead foot in my younger days.


52 posted on 12/18/2010 1:25:49 PM PST by Vigilantcitizen
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To: 2111USMC

True. IMHO the gentlefolk of greater Atlanta are crazier still when behind a wheel.


53 posted on 12/18/2010 2:15:20 PM PST by magslinger (Samuel Colt, feminist. Making women equal to men for over 150 years.)
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To: B4Ranch

Actually, cops can be sued, fairly easily....you know, because they’re the ones that are supposed to be so highly trained in dealing with anything....in all seriousness, they do have a higher level of accountability than us civilians...what you’re thinking of, are the instances of the departments covering for their officers when they screw up....what normally happens then is, the city and the department throw the cop under the bus, saying they performed something outside of their training or department SOP’s and are personally responsible for what happened...we, the department and city, are not responsible....and then, at the end of the day, they settle and the whole thing is forgotten about, until the next occurrence of complete incompetence...and so it goes round and round


54 posted on 12/19/2010 4:02:19 AM PST by qaz123
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To: Leftism is Mentally Deranged

“The cop was acting within reasonable limits.”

For what? The guy was identifying himself with the most law-abiding group in society!


55 posted on 12/19/2010 8:57:34 AM PST by ctdonath2 (+)
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To: qaz123

And if a civilian is involved with the cops, the department will throw him under the bus and polish the cops badge.


56 posted on 12/19/2010 9:01:46 AM PST by B4Ranch (Do NOT remain seated until this ride comes to a full and complete stop! We're going the wrong way!)
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