Cape Cod man shoots pit bull that was biting him. Guns confiscated.

Would they just make him open his safes and throw it all into the trunk of a cruiser?
Yup. I know one guy served with a TRO whose immediate reaction was "You'll need to send a couple more cars to fit them all".
 
What the Hell? If no charges have been filed, why would they take his guns? Seems like legitimate self-defense. If you can't shoot a dog that's biting you in your own bed, what CAN you shoot???
They take them because they can. No you can't shoot anyone for any reason and expect not to be jacked up in MA.

Such bullshit.
Yup.

My guess is Pending Investigation? I’m convinced you cannot use your firearm in any lawfull manner in Mass without this happening
Correct, or at least this is what you can expect as a result.

I'm surprised he wasn't charged with a storage violation after he was taken away to the hospital.
Wait, they have plenty of time to suspend/revoke his LTC and charge him for firing a gun within 500' of a dwelling, storage violation, etc.

*Would* the law-abiding gun owner be within his rights to deny the police officers' attempts to confiscate his guns? Is it valid to ask "What law did I break?" and otherwise inquire as to their probable cause for the taking?
Question them and you'll likely to be arrested and charged with some BS charges.

That is crazy.

I heard of cops seizing a home owners only gun after a home invasion leaving him defenseless.
People were mad about that because the invaders were due back to kill him off.

What reason did the cops give for taking the rest of his guns???

What if he was a collector and had tens of thousands in valuable guns and ammo?

Would they just make him open his safes and throw it all into the trunk of a cruiser?

That sort of thing could happen in a domestic but for killing a violent pit bull????
They do and can in MA. Yes, they will confiscate everything in almost all cases and literally throw them in the trunk of cruisers. Making sure to destroy any collectible value in the process. You don't even want to know how they are stored at a PD!
 
I read the article several times and I still can't find what they did with the peanut butter. Was that tagged and submitted for evidence? Or did it end up in the nightstand?
Shitty reporting.
 
They take them because they can. No you can't shoot anyone for any reason and expect not to be jacked up in MA.


Yup.


Correct, or at least this is what you can expect as a result.


Wait, they have plenty of time to suspend/revoke his LTC and charge him for firing a gun within 500' of a dwelling, storage violation, etc.


Question them and you'll likely to be arrested and charged with some BS charges.


They do and can in MA. Yes, they will confiscate everything in almost all cases and literally throw them in the trunk of cruisers. Making sure to destroy any collectible value in the process. You don't even want to know how they are stored at a PD!
So... a question for you and/or Comm2a. If I have a situation where I lawfully use a firearm, and the police want me to surrender my LTC and/or firearms and ammo (and not just the one used in self-defense), what approach should I take if I want to preserve my legal rights?

I am not willing to "go along to get along" to avoid them making up some BS charges, and want to fight for my rights. I think we need a federal test case on this, and the best way to get one is to make sure everyone who cares about 2A knows what to do in the unfortunate event they have to defend themselves.
 
Is it normal in Mass for the state to confiscate your guns if you aren't charged with a crime? If so, what stops them from taking anyone's property for any reason?

Yup, this is normal. They do it because they can, and because "gunz." There's literally nothing to stop them from revoking your license based on "suitability" at any time. Then they send the theft wagon.

Or now they can just ERPO your ass, too. That may even require less cause than suitability, it's really unclear still how that's going to work.
 
As amm5061 states above, you can't stop them. It will not be a polite "may I take them" request from the PD. If required they will get a search warrant to break into safes, etc. If they can make a claim of exigent circumstances, they can take stuff without a search warrant. You can only fight it in the courts. Try to fight them on the scene and you'll be arrested and charged with a bunch of additional crimes, assuming they don't shoot you in the process.
 
As amm5061 states above, you can't stop them. It will not be a polite "may I take them" request from the PD. If required they will get a search warrant to break into safes, etc. If they can make a claim of exigent circumstances, they can take stuff without a search warrant. You can only fight it in the courts. Try to fight them on the scene and you'll be arrested and charged with a bunch of additional crimes, assuming they don't shoot you in the process.


And this ladies and gentlemen is why I don't live in the NorthEast any more. Seriously. I dispatched a presumably rabid fox last week in the middle of my neighborhood, in the middle of the day, in front of multiple witnesses, including women and children. Everyone present knew I was about to do it and the adults made sure that their children stayed well back. One neighbor came out of his house after hearing the gunshots, came over, looked at the dead fox, had a brief cordial conversation with me and went back in his house.

Nobody had a heart attack because I was standing there with a holstered pistol in my hand talking to my neighbors. Nobody called the police either because of the visible pistol or the gunshots.

DNR showed up shortly thereafter, collected the fox, advised me that he couldn't do an autopsy for rabies because I'd shot it in the head and left. My neighbors thanked me, I picked up my brass and went back to work. M
 
An 'event' in that you get in a dust up with the PD? Remain silent.

An 'event' in that MZB's in Assless chaps are riding down the street? That's why you keep some stuff on hand.
 
wonder if the guns possibly not being locked up has something to do with it. It just says he grabbed it from his nightstand. Doesn’t say he reached into a safe or anything. Sucks if that’s the case.
Prove he wasn't cleaning it while sitting on the bed?

Oh, I forgot...we went from innocent until proven guilty to guilty until you spend all your money proving you are innocent.
 
Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that they seized all his guns? Maybe he has a lot more guns. Who's house was it?

They took the gun used to shoot the dog, which they had to because it's evidence. Also a shotgun which may have been in plain sight, who knows.
 
Why is everyone jumping to the conclusion that they seized all his guns? Maybe he has a lot more guns. Who's house was it?

They took the gun used to shoot the dog, which they had to because it's evidence. Also a shotgun which may have been in plain sight, who knows.

Right, I commented earlier that they may have taken the guns that were there simply because he got dashed off to the hospital and if the GF didn't have a license she couldn't possess them. Maybe there wasn't a safe to stick them in etc... With the, as usual, poor reporting of the incident we don't know exactly why they did what they did.
 
People keep animals in there homes waiting to be adopted instead of being left in a shelter. That's what I get from it.

That's exactly what it is. A lot of times it's people trying to decide if they want a dog or what type of dog they want. Other times it's people who have a seasonal schedule that would allow them to have a dog for a certain period then make it unfeasible to do so at another time. My sister and her fiance have fostered dogs on and off over the past couple years. Where they were working on moving into a new place, and are still busy with wedding preparations, having their own dog wasn't feasible for them. Fostering dogs allowed them to have a pet for a while and help it find a good home. Typically they'd have the dog for a couple weeks to a month before a suitable home could be found for it. They'd also get first pick on permanently adopting the dog if they wanted to and have are able to give an opinion on what type of family they think the dog would fit best in.
 
So... a question for you and/or Comm2a. If I have a situation where I lawfully use a firearm, and the police want me to surrender my LTC and/or firearms and ammo (and not just the one used in self-defense), what approach should I take if I want to preserve my legal rights?
You have to cooperate and not play games, or they can get you for an additional offense that will make you a PP. Hiding guns elsewhere, keeping a special one, etc. are setups for bad juju.

Have a dealer who has already agreed to pick up your guns from the PD, and have a signed copy in your safe to surrender with the guns. He should be at the police station immediately, or at 8AM the next day if after hours. Remember, the PD may call Dowd and say "Please hurry, his designated dealer is on the way".

Cooperate, but do not let them in your house. If they insist on entering do not resist, but be clear and vocal "You do not have consent to enter my house". Bring cased guns to the door to surrender.

Be courteous and give them a good faith estimate of how many vehicles it will take to haul your collection to the PD.

I have a notice on my safe that no other person has any authority to grant access, and that under no circumstances shall access granted by another person, even one who has power of attorney shall be considered consensual and that any consent from me must be in writing. No, it will not stop them - but it will provide a reasonable refutation of the standard claim that is often made "he consented" or "his wife consented".
 
Still not sure why they called the cops? Get a shovel and be done with it. It was dark, and you didn't get a good look at the dog. Sucks, but absolutely NO need to involve thugs who want to put notches in their belts.
 
So much information missing from the article. Was it his own dog? Was it a neighbor's dog or a stray that had invaded the guy's house?

Is it normal in Mass for the state to confiscate your guns if you aren't charged with a crime? If so, what stops them from taking anyone's property for any reason?
Yup, ERPO!
 
Still not sure why they called the cops? Get a shovel and be done with it. It was dark, and you didn't get a good look at the dog. Sucks, but absolutely NO need to involve thugs who want to put notches in their belts.

It sounds like the guys wounds were serious (part of arm turned into hamburger type deal) and he needed an ambulance. Also depending on the mentality of his woman its difficult to get someone to undersand the importance of keeping the man out of your life.

Joe SmartGuy hermit that lives in his house at the end of the road might be able to cover up something like this, but typical joe and jane public that just happens to have a gun? Good luck with that. They probably announced to the 911 dispatcher like 10 times that they shot the dog.... [laugh]

-Mike
 
Still not sure why they called the cops? Get a shovel and be done with it. It was dark, and you didn't get a good look at the dog. Sucks, but absolutely NO need to involve thugs who want to put notches in their belts.
Every ambulance call gets a free home inspection without a warrant.
Remember that before you call .
 
Every ambulance call gets a free home inspection without a warrant.
Remember that before you call .

Not necessarily. Guy could have gone outside, locked his house and waited for EMS/FD to show up, and said "I was just walking home from my evening walk, a dog growled at me and then lunged and bit me, I kicked it and it ran off, looked like a pit bull" blah blah, guy goes to hospital.

ETA: I think it depends on the town and the type of call too. Years ago I had to call 911 for my exes daughter having a severe asthma attack, she just about passed out in my front hallway, FD just came in and scooped her up and put her on a gurney outside that was it, no kopsch showed up at all.

-Mike
 
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