Willie Sutton
Moderator
Mooting this to the legal-eagles:
PURELY HYPOTHETICAL (save for the safe, which is a real world thing, however I am *never* in CA)
So, here goes:
Bolted down electronic-lock safe between the seats of my van (true statement).
Handgun is in the safe. Loaded, unloaded, whatever... magically I *really cannot remember* if I unloaded it or not, so... I am a bit nervous. In any event I remember that there's a handgun there tha's been laying there since I left Wisconsin on my vacation.
California trooper pulls me over, looks "magically" thru the pile of jackets and crap that is usually tossed over the safe, and asks what is in there. He is thinking Terry Stop Territory.
He asks me
1: "do you have any weapons",
2: "what's in the safe",
and,
(3) "may I see what is in the safe".
I smile and like a wise-ass pull out my pocket sized US Constitution and read him the 4th and 5th amendments as my answer.
Which boil down to this:
(1): "Officer I really would like to cooperate with you, however I believe that we only have the rights that we defend, and in defense of the 4th amendment of the USA I regretfully decline your kind offer to view the contents of my private safe, in which I keep my personal papers and effects. While I understand your concern for your own safety, and the guidelines of Terry and your authority to ensure that you are not harmed by anything within my direct control, the contents of a locked safe are, for the moment, inaccessable to me, and I would be very pleased indeed to vacate the vehicle in order to further remove myself from any possibility that you might yourself be in danger due to my proximity to the contents. In any event, I do not consent to a search of the safe, and formally inform you now of this fact".
and:
(2): "Officer, I understand your interest in continuing to ask more questions about my safe, but I believe that we only have the rights that we defend, and I hereby assert my rights under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution and refuse to answer further questions.
and:
(3): Am I being detained, if so, for what reason, and may I leave now?
I tape and video record all of this so there's no question as to what went on.
Other than the fact that they are likely to handcuff me for being a jerkoff, rip out the safe to tear it open, and then find the handgun (which is now revealed to be unloaded and which was always legal)...
What next?
Do I:
(A): Go directly to jail for refusing to allow inspection of a firearm to determine that it's not loaded?
or
(B) Hit the civil rights violation lawsuit jackpot?
or
(most likely in my uneducated opinion) (A) and (B) one after the other?
Willie
.
PURELY HYPOTHETICAL (save for the safe, which is a real world thing, however I am *never* in CA)
So, here goes:
Bolted down electronic-lock safe between the seats of my van (true statement).
Handgun is in the safe. Loaded, unloaded, whatever... magically I *really cannot remember* if I unloaded it or not, so... I am a bit nervous. In any event I remember that there's a handgun there tha's been laying there since I left Wisconsin on my vacation.
California trooper pulls me over, looks "magically" thru the pile of jackets and crap that is usually tossed over the safe, and asks what is in there. He is thinking Terry Stop Territory.
He asks me
1: "do you have any weapons",
2: "what's in the safe",
and,
(3) "may I see what is in the safe".
I smile and like a wise-ass pull out my pocket sized US Constitution and read him the 4th and 5th amendments as my answer.
Which boil down to this:
(1): "Officer I really would like to cooperate with you, however I believe that we only have the rights that we defend, and in defense of the 4th amendment of the USA I regretfully decline your kind offer to view the contents of my private safe, in which I keep my personal papers and effects. While I understand your concern for your own safety, and the guidelines of Terry and your authority to ensure that you are not harmed by anything within my direct control, the contents of a locked safe are, for the moment, inaccessable to me, and I would be very pleased indeed to vacate the vehicle in order to further remove myself from any possibility that you might yourself be in danger due to my proximity to the contents. In any event, I do not consent to a search of the safe, and formally inform you now of this fact".
and:
(2): "Officer, I understand your interest in continuing to ask more questions about my safe, but I believe that we only have the rights that we defend, and I hereby assert my rights under the 5th Amendment of the Constitution and refuse to answer further questions.
and:
(3): Am I being detained, if so, for what reason, and may I leave now?
I tape and video record all of this so there's no question as to what went on.
Other than the fact that they are likely to handcuff me for being a jerkoff, rip out the safe to tear it open, and then find the handgun (which is now revealed to be unloaded and which was always legal)...
What next?
Do I:
(A): Go directly to jail for refusing to allow inspection of a firearm to determine that it's not loaded?
or
(B) Hit the civil rights violation lawsuit jackpot?
or
(most likely in my uneducated opinion) (A) and (B) one after the other?
Willie
.
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