I Had a Discussion With a Friend...

[blamecharles]

Not to mention the fact that the officer knows no crime was committed by anyone at the gun store.

Except receiving stolen merchant. Even though that I didn't know business isn't a defense.(can't do purple from phone)

 

[TMU317]

Except receiving stolen merchant. Even though that I didn't know business isn't a defense.(can't do purple from phone)

Not sure which part was supposed to be purple. I believe it is "receiving stolen property" and it has to be "knowingly and intentionally" done.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

You might ask her, in passing, what other items she lawfully seizes without an articulable threat to safety, reasonable suspicion, probable cause or a warrant?

This procedure is probably lawful somewhere in the US, and maybe police are reading those cases during their training.

This 'bleeding over' of police practices from one jurisdiction to another is fairly common; some officers just don't get that: 1) federal case law is not relevant if the Indiana courts have formed their own doctrine, and 2) other states' case law is not relevant at all, unless adopted by the Indiana courts.

Kudos to you for distinguishing between lawful and legal.
Many don't know the difference, which is why the Goverment gets away with so much.

 

[bwframe]

The prosecutor filing charges and someone getting arrested are two separate issues. I believe the point being made here was if you are stopped and found to be in possession of a stolen handgun you may end up being arrested.

This is exactly my concern. I'm not worried about court, at least initially anyway. I did not do anything illegal. I am very concerned about arrest. There are lots and lots of things that can go badly when you are arrested.

Beyond the financial, towing, property confiscation and time issues there are many personal issues that can crop up during an arrest. There is a much, much larger chance of friction with other humans whether they are inmates or those that handle them.

 

[VERT]

This whole issue of possessing stolen property by accident is the reason why both my wifes and my primary self defense guns were purchased NEW. I have confidence in the people that I have purchased used guns from but you just never know. I also have a habit of buying my LEO friends duty weapons. I have a couple nice guns that they used on the job and that they were allowed to buy when retired. So used but with a well documented history.

For the record I have never been disarmed at a traffic stop. If they want to run the numbers on my guns fine. I just think that doing this as a general practice is a waste of resources. Now if the officer had a good reason to do the search that is different.