You're reading way too much into it...you can "what if" all day long....the police dealt with what they had at the given time. A domestic situation with half the party drinking alcohol with a gun at 1am. Who anyway works on a vehicle at 1am drinking with a loaded gun on them...I don't and I carry all the time. Plus, you don't know what information the police were given, true or not. I still think there is a lil more to the story. I am sure he will be given his gun back if there were no criminal charges filed.

 

I think what's missing here is .. What did the ex tell the cops? I would love to know, because that is probably why they took your gun..

think about it.. cops get a call... "My estranged husband is in the driveway sitting in his truck drunk. Yes we have had problems with our divorce.. yes he has a ccw...." We'll send someone right over ma'am..

Cops get.. Possible domestic issue at $$##@@ Estranged couple, wife in house husband in driveway, alcohol involved,, firearms present... And then we have what we got here.

The cops took your gun to de-escalate an unknown situation. Yes they were right to take it under these circumstances. You can be as rational as you like,but it's the cops job to evaluate the situation. Your situation could have easily been you over there with a gun drunk waiting on ex to come out so you could shoot her.

All that said, you should've been able to get the gun back the same day. Not raggin on ya man, but placed yourself in a bad situation. If cops left you there with the gun and you did use it.. They would be in serious trouble.

 

Read more carefully, the OP had been asleep in his vehicle until the cops woke him up at 6:30AM. I know plenty of people who carry their weapon at that time of the morning.

If there was a "domestic situation" while the OP was working on his truck, the cops did a bang up job of arriving more 5 hours after the "perp" fell asleep. After showing proof that he owned the property he was on, that should have been the end of it.

- NCSU

 

Exactly....there's no telling what info the police had at the time from whoever...bs or not.

 

NCSU, the police showed up because SOMEONE CALLED THEM. Not because they wanted to stop by and say hello at 1am....right????

What happened previously that led up to this event??? Do you know???

What did the complainant tell the police when they called???Any idea???? Me either.

What time was the call received? In reference to their arrival?? Any idea?? Me either.

In Fl, if there are complaints of a possible drunk driver and they have a description/location of the vehicle and you are found in your vehicle passed out (asleep) and the vehicle is still running...and contact is made....and the odor is clearly present....guess what??? DUI Investigation begins... You can go to jail. Yes...even in your driveway. But that is not relevant here. Do you really think they just showed up 5 hours later???

The fact that they took the gun away is a clear indication that it was domestic related!!

I'm glad you guys can read a post or 2 which is only half of the story and determine the police stole his gun and they should have just left because he was on his own property.

Believe it or not, there is more to this story.

 

Everything I said was based on what the OP has told us. Any other information is unknown, so how you be so sure what you're assuming is correct?

All we know is he passed out at 1:00am, the cops woke him up at 6:30am and took his pistol, we don't know who, if anyone called, what they said or when. We can assume it was his ex, but we don't know that.

Regardless, unless there is a restraining order or something like that, the OP has every legal right to be on his property. If the police had thought this was a case domestic violence, or believed the OP was intent on hurting his ex, why didn't they arrest him? Why only take away the gun and leave him there? There are more ways to kill or hurt someone than simply using a gun. If anything, that leaves the officers open to liability because it shows that they thought he was a threat (using your logic that they took his gun due to domestic issues) but left him free and on the property.

If, on the other hand, they determined he was not a threat, why did they take his gun?

- NCSU

 

They left him free because there wasn't probable cause to effect an arrest.

Of course there are more ways to hurt or kill but you can only do so much...Like taking a weapon temporarily for a reasonable manner of time from a person who is clearly under the influence of alcohol and if any unknown domestic issues.

The main point I'm trying to make is there is more to this story, too many holes in it. Like you even said, all we "know" is what the OP posted.

No offense to you, NCSU.

 

Yeah -- I've got to give the cops the nod here.

Guy in the middle of a messy divorce passed out in a truck with a gun behind the residence where his wife is living -- that's not exactly what I would call "normal" behavior.

Perfectly innocent? Perhaps. But most people didn't just fall off a turnip truck either......

 

Show of hands..... How many folks want to see their ex or estranged wife drunk with a gun sitting in the driveway???

Anybody???

 

Ole johnny boy did a bad thing, 1st he showed up with a gun un-welcomed at his own home. 2nd began drinking and i think also began arguing with the ex flashing around his shiny gun then drank some more. Now ex is pissed and calls the cops ( i know i would have). 3rd falls alsleep in cab of truck and for the life of me why did he remove his gun??? why not just leave it on??? all mistakes made by a person not of hiwe right mind due to marrige issues@!!!!!! I would have taken him and his gun.....

 

Completely different situations NC, and you know it. Don't alter my logic to suit your means.

 

Nope.

 

Sell the house and restart. Cuts out alot of headaches...

 

God Bless Texas

 

Just thought I would let you know how things have turned out.

On the county level they found no reason to pursue any charges. However on the CITY level, they are going to go after: 2923.16 Improperly handeling firearms in a motor vehicle.

The prosecutor spoke with my atty. and gave us two options:

1. Firearm returned to me, pay a fine and court cost's, and have a mis-demeanor on my record

or

2. Pay court cost's, city keeps my gun, and no charges

As much bs as this whole thing has been, the clean record is worth more than a 500.00 gun. I could have my record exponged after a year but that would most likely cost more than what a new gun would be. I have a clean record, why tarnish it over this BS!

As my atty told me, they (city popo) could have just called me up after the county prosecutor said nothing here and returned my firearm. However, in these small towns this is usualy the way they proceed. They don't like to be wrong or admit that they are just like you and I, human, kind of power type of thing. Also, the prosecutor in my 'lil town was born and raised here and has been the prosecutor for 40 years, he ain't lettin' nothin' go!!!!

No more contributions from me.