I’m a humble Houstonian libertarian rabid 2A-defender; your writings give me a little faith that my local cops won’t be kicking in my door looking for my AR.

I try to engage as many of them in conversation as I can and ask pretty pointed questions about the 2A. 90% of them answer in the affirmative; I just hope their principles hold up under the heat of battle.

I look at the Katrina confiscation with fear; on the other hand, we’ve had plenty of warning this time around, and lots of time for people to introspect and clarify their principles to themselves.
I sincerely hope most cops have spent some time thinking about it–and will come down on the right side.

I’m betting there are one to five percent of gun owners who absolutely will not give them up; I hope I have the courage to stand among them.

Chris

It’s definitely not just supervisory review. Laws mandating arrest exist, the most well known of which in Texas is the law requiring arrest for violation of a protective order. As the law is written, under no circumstances can I use discretion when dealing a suspect who violates a protective order. As for the rest of it, there is some discretion involved, but we certainly can’t decide to ignore major crimes.

I’d have to go through the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to find statues for you. After almost 20 years, I still haven’t quite managed to memorize that book.

Chris

Can you cite any law that punishes or requires police to act when they witness a violation of the law or a crime?

From what I understand is that they’re only responsible to their superiors.

My guyt feeling is that most cops wouldn’t enforce a real of the 2A. But then Nathan Haddad gets arrested in NY for having empty mags, and yeah, I get scared too.

I must tell you that despite several blogging law enforcement folks saying they won’t participate in actions such as confiscation, I’m not feeling all that easy about it.

First of all, it won’t come as some tidal wave of action, some massive coordinated attack. It will begin more localized and therefore not with great support from elsewhere for dissenting officers. It’s one thing when one lonely LT gives the order in relative isolation, but quite another when it comes from echelons of command directing far and wide. I believe the levels of resistance would be quite different.

Second, it’s one thing to profess intended disobedience to orders, even unlawful ones, but it’s another thing to walk on short/no notice to the exit and know there is no paycheck to feed, clothe, and house the family. Principle is indeed a wonderful thing worth fighiting for, but it doesn’t feed the loved family rightfully always in our minds.

When push comes to shove, I don’t believe the number of law enforcement officers who will actually remember they are still part of the civilian populace is as great as we other civilians hope it will be.

I hope for the best, but I prepare for the worst.

BobF

Chris