Traffic stop, officer confiscated my firearms.

[TTravis]

I have a situation where I was stopped for a traffic infraction. (class C infraction). When asked if I had any weapons, I told the officer that I had a permit and there were a couple firearms in the car which I was carrying legally. I remained calm and cooperative. My military experience kicked and I just took what the officer had to say as if I were being chewed out by a superior officer. I did not offer any argument or resistance.

I believe the officer was quite upset with me because of my handguns. I had a few beers earlier, and blew .07 which is under the legal limit. I don't think I said or did anything that would make the officer consider me to be impaired, or dangerous. I was not ticked at the time but later received a citation in the mail (30 days after the event).

At the scene, the officer went ahead and searched my vehicle, without my connect. I did not resist. I was put in cuffs. No Miranda reading. He wanted to tow my vehicle, but ultimately, I talked him into letting other members of my nearby household come and drive me home.

My guns were confiscated. I was told that I would have to go to the local town chief of police to see if I could get them back. I think that was supposed to intimidate me. This was a Saturday night. The chief was on vacation the next week. On Wednesday, the following week, I finally got my guns back after it was verified that I was not cited and there were no pending charges (at that time). I did not get my ammo back. I went to the police station and picked up my guns at the front window in a shoe box, all zip tied, and no ammo. I was glad to get my guns back and did not make a fuss about the ammo.

There are a lot of details I am leaving out here because the traffic offence is an active case and I do not want to incriminate myself. I will eventually share the complete story. The infraction has nothing to do with alcohol.

I believe I may have grounds for a civil case, or at least a complaint against the officer and the PD. I don't think there was a just reason to take my firearms.

I would appreciate if anyone would have comments, good or bad that may help me to understand how my rights may be violated.

I just read a story about Bill H, and would like to know of any stories like mine where LE actually confiscated firearms in a traffic stop or in public.

I did talk to Guy. He understandably does not work for free. I do not have and cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Thanks in advance.

 

[iamaclone45]

.07....wooooo that's close...

Sounds like you have more to worry about then a civil case about having your guns taken away for a few days.

 

[Concerned Citizen]

Good news is you got your firearms back, and didn't go to jail. I can't comment on the infraction obviously. If you can get out of it, great. Although in my opinion the officer should not have taken your weapons, & had no legal basis to tow your car (from the details you gave here). You may have been mistreated, and the LEO may have been wrong, but I'm, guessing if Guy didn't take the case, then likely your civil rights were not violated, hence no likely judgement to be awarded for the LEO's bad behaviour.

Sounds like you're going to have to just count this one as a bad day.

 

[Donnelly]

There are a lot of details I am leaving out here...

How could we possibly know if the officer was justified in confiscating the firearms if we don't have all the facts? I can understand not wanting to incriminate yourself, but it we can't even hear your entire side of the story, nuch less the officer's, how could you possibly expect anyone to give anything other than a snarky answer?

I believe I may have grounds for a civil case...

I do not have and cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

Good luck with that civil case if you can't afford a lawyer. Unless, of course, you might be able to afford a lawyer and this post was a feeler to see if you thought the group-think agreed with you. See above response as to why that will probably not happen.

 

[indytechnerd]

I'm going to side with Concerned on this, write it off. Bad night all around that could have been worse. Did he show you the breathalyzer or tell you .07?

 

[rnungester]

I would have to agree with donnelly. All the facts play a huge role on whether or not it was justifiable to take your weapons. On the car situation, .07 is cutting it close, he had the right to detain you for his protection, but threatening to tow your car was out of line. Depending on the "CLASS C INFRACTION" would then let you know how to go about finding the proper way to hand the situation.....

BTW, what was the infraction?

 

[mrjarrell]

The cop stole your property. If you showed him a valid LTCH then you were all done discussing weapons and he had no need to steal your property. You should file a formal complaint, at the least.

 

[ckcollins2003]

There are a lot of details I am leaving out here because the traffic offence is an active case and I do not want to incriminate myself. I will eventually share the complete story. The infraction has nothing to do with alcohol.

If the infraction was not the alcohol then we really don't know why he confiscated your weapons. The .07 BAC is the only thing you have shared with us that would be any clue as to why they were confiscated and your vehicle towed.

Most lawyers will hear your story for free or a very small charge and tell you whether or not you have a case. I understand you not wanting to incriminate yourself, so your best bet is to talk to one and share the entire scenario with him/her because we can't give you any legal advice unless we know what the infraction was really for.

 

[jsharmon7]

This does not compute. I understand you're leaving things out on purpose, but some things don't add up. Good luck no matter what you decide.

 

[TTravis]

I don't want to talk about the infraction because I plan to fight it in court and do not want to blow my defence. I believe I have a good chance to win this one. If I do win, I will have one mad LEO and prosecutor.

I did see the .07 result on the tester. I am not proud of this but I like to have a few beers when I am out fishing. My trick is not to take enough along to get me over the limit. I drank up to the limit and quit. Legal is Legal. I would expect, and I am sure I deserve to be lectured about alcohol and guns not mixing. I agree, but do not feel the situation was out of control. I do not consider myself to be an alcoholic.

Guy gave me the impression that I have a good potential for a case. I just cannot afford him. His main issue for me to weigh is what are the actual damages of being without my guns for 10 days, and how much might that be worth. The big $$$$ pay-off quickly faded from my head. I never tried to sue anyone before.

The infraction was quite miner and has nothing to do with my firearms, violence, or alcohol. Just assume, for something on a comparable level, I had a headlight out. I will share it after the trial, but I do not want to confess here. I just don't want to say I got pulled over because I was doing such and such. The fine would only be $150 and 4 points. I can simply pay the money any time and be done with it, but the officer did me wrong so I am going to make him work for the ticket.

I think most people would consider me to be a pretty good guy, 50, clean legal record, no points on DL, engineering degree, Christian, family man, who does a lot of community service, and loves to hunt and fish. I grew up around guns, was an Army officer, and always put safety first when around firearms. My pride was hurt more than anything. I have to admit, I am still hurting badly, more than I would have thought possible, and find great comport in this forum.

If I take any action, I will be on my own. I've dealt with courts in the past and am amazed what I can accomplish myself when I am determined and prepared. I don't back away from challenges. I am the same way toward fixing my own cars or solving problems. I can read the law and file my own paperwork easily. It just might take me a little longer.

This is not about fighting my ticket. It is about my guns being taken away and what I might be able to do about, and what others may have experienced. My CCW was verified as valid and not taken from me.

 

[jbombelli]

I'm going to leave a lot of details out of my suggestion regarding how to handle this. Here's what you should do:

 

[DragonGunner]

You chose to tell the LEO you had a permit an had guns in the car, after seeing your permit all question about guns should of stopped, an he should not of pursued taking your guns......You would of been in your rights to tell the LEO nothing about your permit or your guns since it was a traffic stop, you would of been within your rights to say nothing. Please feel free to use your rights next time, it might save a big headache.

 

[TTravis]

Thanks a lot jbombelli!

 

[Westside]

I'm going to leave a lot of details out of my suggestion regarding how to handle this. Here's what you should do:

I agree with jbombelli. hope it helps.

 

[TTravis]

I have learned much from this site and will be much more prepare for my next encounter with LEO. If I knew then what I learned here, things would have been much different. At least I was confident that my CCW was legal. I made no apology and was not concerned about being armed, which I think got his blood boiling.

 

[ckcollins2003]

If the infraction was little enough to where you were not arrested then the weapons shouldn't have been confiscated since you were legal to carry them. I could even see if they wanted to run the numbers, but obviously they weren't stolen or they wouldn't have given them back to you.

You most likely have a case with the issue about your weapons being confiscated and I would assume you can be reimbursed for the ammo you lost as well IF YOU WIN.

I hope the best for you.

 

[TTravis]

On a humerus note. One of the guns was a little North American Arms revolver in .22 mag. It took one of the officers over 45 minutes and several radio calls to the station to figure out how to unload the thing. The though it was a top breaking derringer. I told him to remove the cylinder, but he still did not get it. He wasn't about to have me unload it for him. I was in cuffs at the time. I finally told him it was a North American Arms and he had the dispatcher look up user instructions on the internet!

 

[TTravis]

It was only 5 rounds of .22 mag, and 5 rounds of .38 for my Taurus 85. I had plenty of ammunition at home.

 

[gunman41mag]

Make a complaint against the public servant

 

[lrahm]

Question, did he get you out of the car and give you a standardized field sobriety test?