Inalienable individual rights as protected by our
constitution and Bill of Rights have been further eroded, almost to the point
of being erased. The 4th
Amendment has been under attack for quite some time as police powers have triumphed
over and over again under the pretense that society’s safety is more important
than individual rights.
It wasn’t too long ago Homeland Security redefined the borders of our United States, expanding the coastline a hundred miles inland
to accommodate warrantless searches to (supposedly) combat terrorism. I used to say, “…and if you believe that… I
have some ocean front property in Ft. Worth for sale”; but according to these
new parameters the stock yards of Ft. Worth are now adjacent to the Gulf of
Mexico, who’da’ thunk it!
Here in Texas
a homeowner got shot, the victim of a no-knock police raid. A warrant had been obtained
to arrest the homeowner’s son; but because the home owner was thought to own
weapons police decided that crashing in unannounced was their best option.
“In August 2006, Collin County
(Texas)
police obtained a warrant to search John Quinn’s home based on information that
Quinn’s son might be in possession of controlled substances. The warrant did
not authorize police to enter the residence without knocking and announcing
their entry. Nevertheless, based solely
on the suspicion that there were firearms in the Quinn household, the SWAT
team forcibly broke into Quinn’s home after he had gone to bed and proceeded to
carry out a search of the premises. During the raid, Quinn was shot by police,
who panicked and opened fire on him through a solid wood door. Quinn had been
reaching for his lawfully owned firearm, thinking that his home was being
invaded by criminals.” (emphasis added)
{…}
“The U.S. Supreme Court has refused
to hear the case of a Texas
man whose home was subject to a no-knock, SWAT-team style forceful entry and
raid based solely on the suspicion that there were legally-owned firearms in
his household. In denying a petition for certiorari in Quinn v. Texas,
the Court let stand a lower court ruling that essentially makes lawful gun
ownership and possession grounds for police to evade the protections afforded
by the Fourth Amendment and improperly penalizes and limits the Second
Amendment right to bear arms. The Rutherford Institute had asked the Court to
weigh in on the case and protect Americans against encroachments on their
Second Amendment rights.”
There’s an important issue which runs afoul of the rule of
law. The warrant, which I’ve not seen,
didn’t authorize a no-knock raid by police; but police took it upon themselves
to add a variable, “based solely on the
suspicion that there were firearms in the Quinn household” in order to ‘get
around’ the directions of the court issued warrant.
Think about that for a moment and you’ll come to the same
dark conclusion. If this stands, and
apparently the Supreme Court isn’t interested, then any and all future police
raids will include the presumption, before or after the fact, that the
homeowner may have a weapon based solely on suspicion rather than on recorded
fact. Hell, anyone might have a weapon.
Just wait until the federal government produces a list of registered gun owners based on forms that supposedly are used only at the point of purchase to verify the buyer isn’t on the list of folks who can’t own or purchase a firearm. You think I’m a conservative oddball conspiracy nut cases…think again.
Just wait until the federal government produces a list of registered gun owners based on forms that supposedly are used only at the point of purchase to verify the buyer isn’t on the list of folks who can’t own or purchase a firearm. You think I’m a conservative oddball conspiracy nut cases…think again.
Last week agents of the federal government (ATF) raided a gun shop that sold lawful firearms and parts in order to obtain the
names of everyone who had purchased parts.
“According to a memo from the
Anchorage Second Amendment Task Force, the Great Northern Guns store in Anchorage was asked to give their Bound Book to the
ATF so it could be copied in its totality. The store refused, citing their
legal rights and the fact that to do so would be a violation of the Firearms
Owners Protection Act of 1986.” (emphasis added)
Asked? Demanded is more accurate; if you don’t
comply we will shut your business down, put you in jail and let your family
starve. Tell me again how the federal
government respects the rule of law and individual God given rights…
George Washington warned:
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful
master.”
Getting back to John Quinn, the homeowner who got shot
defending himself inside his own home; had the police officers followed the
letter of the law as printed on the warrant would the outcome have been
different? What criminal and/or civil
charges have been filed against these police officers for expanding the
effective limits of the court ordered warrant?
Apparently the courts have already decided; they don’t give a crap
because they refused to hear the case.
Watching America
become a police state one incursion at a time may be the most painful part of
being a citizen in our day. We are
being destroyed from within.
In summary, the 4th Amendment, intended to
restrain government from improper search and seizure, that 4th
Amendment has no meaning in our day and age. The 2nd Amendment, the important reminder to government that
individuals were to own and bear arms to protect themselves from government tyranny,
that 2nd Amendment is
hanging by a thread and is under constant assault from every level of
government.
The courts and police have determined that force of
government trumps antiquated thoughts such as the rule of law and individual
God given rights.
This article has been cross posted to
The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The
Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.
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