Recent posts by myself and others with regard to concealed carry, lawful searches, etc.; reminded me of something that happened to me many, many, many years ago and I'm posting it now for informational purposes to ask if my rights were violated and/or if the LEOs were properly acting within the scope of their authority.
I had just turned 21 (the legal age to purchase and own a handgun in NJ) and I was interested in buying my first handgun. Since I knew of no one else who owned a handgun (my father had a WWII pistol that he brought home from the war but which eventually was misplaced and never found -- even after he died and I went through all of his stuff, there was no hide nor hair of it), I was pretty much on my own in deciding what to buy with regard to make, model, caliber, etc.
At the time there was a publication call "Handgun Test" or "Honest Handgun Tests" or something like that -- similar in scope to the current "Gun Test" but this magazine was available in stores and each issue reviewed a few dozen guns per issue instead of just a handful like "Gun Test" does. I don't know if anybody remembers the magazine but they usually had a full-size photo of the gun on one side and specs & a review of the gun on the other side.
Their editorial views were a little radical but it was better then some of the other gunrags around at the time and much better than blindly walking into a gun shop and just buying something based on the recommendation of the store clerk who may, or may not have your best interests in mind (and even if he did have your best interests in mind, his knowledge & experience would be questionable -- he could be a firearms expect or not know which end the bullet came out of).
Armed with several issues of these magazines, I began to do my research. I narrowed it down to a few dozen guns which I liked and which had the best reviews by ripping those pages out so that I could study them in more detail.
Me and a couple of friends were going to head down to Atlantic City to see some shows, do some gambling and walk the boardwalk. Since it was about a three hour drive, I decided to bring these sheets with me so that it would give me something to do during the long drive down.
As we were driving back home, it was very late at night and I fell asleep in the back seat. The car was a bright orange Chevy Z28 Camaro and my friend was clocked at doing 80+MPH in a 55MPH zone.
I was awakened from my nap when the LEO poked me in the side/stomach (not too hard but just enough to wake me up) with his billy club. Spotting all of these sheets of paper with photos of handguns all over the back seat, he commented to his partner (and I remember this line exactly because as soon as I heard it, I thought to myself "Oh sh__!"): "We got ourselves some gun runners here.".
We were ordered out of the car and frisked. Then while one LEO held us at gunpoint (if memory serves me correctly, the NJ state police were using .357 magnum revolvers at the time), the other LEO went to search the inside of the car. As he was getting into the car, I saw the butt of a J-frame revolver sticking out of his pocket and thought to myself "Oh sh__! He's going to plant that and we're dead."
I kept thinking about making a run for it but decided against it as I figured that I would get shot before I got very far. I didn't realize it at the time but the revolver in his pocket was mostlikely his back-up weapon.
In light of the comments made in other recent threads with regard to probable cause, etc.; were these LEOs acting within the scope of their authority to search us, hold us at gunpoint and search the car?
Share what you know & learn what you don't
I had just turned 21 (the legal age to purchase and own a handgun in NJ) and I was interested in buying my first handgun. Since I knew of no one else who owned a handgun (my father had a WWII pistol that he brought home from the war but which eventually was misplaced and never found -- even after he died and I went through all of his stuff, there was no hide nor hair of it), I was pretty much on my own in deciding what to buy with regard to make, model, caliber, etc.
At the time there was a publication call "Handgun Test" or "Honest Handgun Tests" or something like that -- similar in scope to the current "Gun Test" but this magazine was available in stores and each issue reviewed a few dozen guns per issue instead of just a handful like "Gun Test" does. I don't know if anybody remembers the magazine but they usually had a full-size photo of the gun on one side and specs & a review of the gun on the other side.
Their editorial views were a little radical but it was better then some of the other gunrags around at the time and much better than blindly walking into a gun shop and just buying something based on the recommendation of the store clerk who may, or may not have your best interests in mind (and even if he did have your best interests in mind, his knowledge & experience would be questionable -- he could be a firearms expect or not know which end the bullet came out of).
Armed with several issues of these magazines, I began to do my research. I narrowed it down to a few dozen guns which I liked and which had the best reviews by ripping those pages out so that I could study them in more detail.
Me and a couple of friends were going to head down to Atlantic City to see some shows, do some gambling and walk the boardwalk. Since it was about a three hour drive, I decided to bring these sheets with me so that it would give me something to do during the long drive down.
As we were driving back home, it was very late at night and I fell asleep in the back seat. The car was a bright orange Chevy Z28 Camaro and my friend was clocked at doing 80+MPH in a 55MPH zone.
I was awakened from my nap when the LEO poked me in the side/stomach (not too hard but just enough to wake me up) with his billy club. Spotting all of these sheets of paper with photos of handguns all over the back seat, he commented to his partner (and I remember this line exactly because as soon as I heard it, I thought to myself "Oh sh__!"): "We got ourselves some gun runners here.".
We were ordered out of the car and frisked. Then while one LEO held us at gunpoint (if memory serves me correctly, the NJ state police were using .357 magnum revolvers at the time), the other LEO went to search the inside of the car. As he was getting into the car, I saw the butt of a J-frame revolver sticking out of his pocket and thought to myself "Oh sh__! He's going to plant that and we're dead."
I kept thinking about making a run for it but decided against it as I figured that I would get shot before I got very far. I didn't realize it at the time but the revolver in his pocket was mostlikely his back-up weapon.
In light of the comments made in other recent threads with regard to probable cause, etc.; were these LEOs acting within the scope of their authority to search us, hold us at gunpoint and search the car?
Share what you know & learn what you don't