Reciprocity issue with Campbell County

[Guest kellcin]

I have a friend who lives in Georgia. He was passing through Campbell County, Tenn, and was stopped for speeding.  He is guilty of speeding and plans to plead so, but the officer confiscated his handgun and told him that Campbell County did not recognize reciprocity with Georgia.  He has a Georgia Weapons Carry License.  This is obviously a false claim by the officer.  Anyone have advice on how he can get his weapon back?  I am sure the officer just felt he would not come back to Tennessee to court, but he is coming back. Any advice would be appreciated.

[101]

Pretty sure that officer is going to be in some hot water.

 

Your friend should have asked for a supervisor on the spot instead of handing over his weapon.  Specially having known the reciprocity law himself.

 

I would call the station and ask for the officer in charge and explain what happened.  If that doesn't help I would call the state police and explain to them what happened and ask to file a report of theft by the local yocal.

 

TN has a preemptive law.  Local governments aren't allowed to override state gun laws.

Edited May 3, 2014 by 101

[R_Bert]

Yeah,

 

The Campbell County CLEO is a no-nonsense guy, and is strong advocate of 2A.

 

I suggest you contact Sherriff Goins directly.

 

B.

[bersaguy]

I have a friend who lives in Georgia. He was passing through Campbell County, Tenn, and was stopped for speeding.  He is guilty of speeding and plans to plead so, but the officer confiscated his handgun and told him that Campbell County did not recognize reciprocity with Georgia.  He has a Georgia Weapons Carry License.  This is obviously a false claim by the officer.  Anyone have advice on how he can get his weapon back?  I am sure the officer just felt he would not come back to Tennessee to court, but he is coming back. Any advice would be appreciated.

Well the officer is without a doubt in the wrong and will probably be told that by the judge in the case. I'm sure his chief will also make it clear to him that he was wrong and in violation of your friends Constitutional Rights in accordance to the reciprocity law with Georgia. I would have also requested a supervisor be brought to the scene of the speeding violation but at that point since the officer was already in the wrong he may have taken your friends request as hostile. I would wait till my day in court. Due to the officers ignorance of the gun laws the judge may throw out the speeding ticket also.  Hope everything works out for your friend.

[Guest kellcin]

Thank you for the quick responses. I will take the advice of everyone.  I will recommend he mention this to the Judge and in the mean time contact Sheriff Goins.  Anyone ever need anything in Georgia let me know.  I do public relations for GeorgiaCarry.org !

[Oh Shoot]

Gotta be more to the story? How could he confiscate his firearm without a charge related to it, for example? If indeed he had loaded gun in car, and the deputy truly believed the GA permit wasn't valid, should have been charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

 

Perhaps he was a bad egg who simply stole the firearm. Guess you'll know that if the sheriff shows no record of it. This was for sure a county cop?

 

- OS

Edited May 3, 2014 by Oh Shoot

[TripleDigitRide]

Can the officer be arrested for theft, or is ignorance of the law an acceptable defense for LE?

[Pain103]

That story seems odd like there is way more to it. Like Oh Shoot said if property was taken as evidence in such a case typically there would charges on the spot either custodial arrest or misdemeanor citation. Third hand information usually doesn't provide enough information to make any sense. If it did happen I would be making some appearances at the Sheriff's Office along with requests for copies of any paperwork.

[Oh Shoot]

Can the officer be arrested for theft, or is ignorance of the law an acceptable defense for LE?

 

If it was just the one cop, no cruiser cam, etc, what's to prove he took it at all, eh?

 

- OS

[BrasilNuts]

If it was just the one cop, no cruiser cam, etc, what's to prove he took it at all, eh?
 
- OS

That's what I was thinking, I hope the OPs friend got a receipt for the confiscated firearm.

[JayC]

It's illegal just like it is for you and me...  good luck finding a DA who will charged the officer.

 

Can the officer be arrested for theft, or is ignorance of the law an acceptable defense for LE?

 

[bersaguy]

Also a lot of what the officer did verses what actions may be taken against him might depend on his past record while being an LOE.  That officer that strangled that young man a few weeks ago was 22 year veteran and he was out of a job almost over night.....Like a few have said, depends on if there is more to the case than is being told.

[Mike.357]

if the gun was legally confiscated he will need a court order to get it back.  

 

I doubt the sheriff's office is just gonna hand it over.

[Luke E.]

 Provided that there isn't more to the story than we are hearing, this cop is in some doo doo. Even though with increasing regularity we hear of law enforcement officers being involved in shady if not illegal or criminal doings i'm finding it hard to believe that an officer just decided to confiscate/steal someones firearm if there were nothing that happened leading up to it for him to at least attempt to use as justification. I also find it hard to believe that in a state (TN) that has as many HCP holders as we do that there is an officer out there that is so ignorant of the laws that he wouldn't have take what the citizen was saying into consideration and radio his superior to confirm. I also know that if it were my firearm that had been wrongfully confiscated that I would not have left Campbell County without it or at the very least receiving a legal reason for it not being returned.

 This kind of leaves me thinking that A. a lot more went on during that traffic stop than your buddy is telling you or B. he ran across a bad egg that is working his way up to bigger and worse charges in the future and is just testing the waters.. I tend to lean more towards option A but then again I am having to figure all this from what information was contained in 4-5 sentences. If your"buddy" is in the right, I hope that he is able to retake possession of his firearm quickly and that a deep investigation is gone into to decide if the officer should keep his job because ignorance of the law isn't a viable excuse for any of the rest of us and shouldn't be for him either.

[DaveTN]

As a former cop I would recommend that your friend go to the HQ of the department the officer worked at and ask to speak with a Command officer. If going in person is an option it usually produces better results than calling, and the issue can be dealt with right then.

If they can't fix the issue the DA can, but I wouldn't wait for the court date, he will be going to traffic court and the DA may not have any knowledge of the gun issue.

We can make wild azz guesses all we want about whether or not there is more to the story, but it does sound strange that an Officer would take his gun. Did he have his carry permit on him? If the Officer thought he was violating the law, he isn't required to make an arrest right then, he could tag the gun as evidence and forward the report to the DA for possible charges.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I would have taken the ticket and drove straight to the HQ and talked with Command. The longer the gun is in "the system" the less chance he has of getting it back without a hearing. But as I say, I wouldn't count on the gun issue being dealt with in traffic court unless he has had contact with the DA handling the case.

Let us know what happens. Edited May 4, 2014 by DaveTN

[runco]

I have heard of such stories before, but not Campbell Co.  Usually the victim spoke English as a 2nd language.  Intimidation, and hassle factor is not worth the value of the handgun to some people. 

[Guest kellcin]

Runco just hit the nail on the head.  My friend is a native of Mexico, but he and his family are here legally as US Citizens. They did it the right way. He is an honest hard working man but English is his second language.  My initial thought was the cop figured he was not legal, took his gun with the thought he would never come back to court much less for his gun.  I was not trying to be secretive about this situation but I wanted un-slanted opinions on how to solve this for anyone in this situation regardless.  We do not want to approach this as a case of discrimination or a civil rights issue, he just wants to get his gun back. It was a present from his brother for his birthday just last month.

I have advised him to contact the sheriff's office and ask to speak to a commander or who ever is in charge at the time. If this does not get any results we may have to take the next step, but hate to go that far. 

Thank you for your opinions and recommendations. I will update this post when I know more.

[JAB]

if the gun was legally confiscated he will need a court order to get it back.  

 

I doubt the sheriff's office is just gonna hand it over.

 

But - according to the information in the OP, anyhow - it doesn't sound like the gun was legally confiscated.

[Luke E.]

Runco just hit the nail on the head. My friend is a native of Mexico, but he and his family are here legally as US Citizens. They did it the right way. He is an honest hard working man but English is his second language. My initial thought was the cop figured he was not legal, took his gun with the thought he would never come back to court much less for his gun. I was not trying to be secretive about this situation but I wanted un-slanted opinions on how to solve this for anyone in this situation regardless. We do not want to approach this as a case of discrimination or a civil rights issue, he just wants to get his gun back. It was a present from his brother for his birthday just last month.

I have advised him to contact the sheriff's office and ask to speak to a commander or who ever is in charge at the time. If this does not get any results we may have to take the next step, but hate to go that far.

Thank you for your opinions and recommendations. I will update this post when I know more.

This would have been helpful before now ;-) anyways, I do hope that he is able to get his firearm back quickly and painlessly.

[Erik88]

Runco just hit the nail on the head.  My friend is a native of Mexico, but he and his family are here legally as US Citizens. They did it the right way. He is an honest hard working man but English is his second language.  My initial thought was the cop figured he was not legal, took his gun with the thought he would never come back to court much less for his gun.  I was not trying to be secretive about this situation but I wanted un-slanted opinions on how to solve this for anyone in this situation regardless.  We do not want to approach this as a case of discrimination or a civil rights issue, he just wants to get his gun back. It was a present from his brother for his birthday just last month.

I have advised him to contact the sheriff's office and ask to speak to a commander or who ever is in charge at the time. If this does not get any results we may have to take the next step, but hate to go that far. 

Thank you for your opinions and recommendations. I will update this post when I know more.

 

That makes me sick- but having spent a lot of time in Campbell county it does not surprise me. Your friend needs to get a lawyer and fight this. Something tells me he will need one in order to get his gun back.

[Trekbike]

[quote name="kellcin" post="1146008" timestamp="1399243440"] My initial thought was the cop figured he was not legal, took his gun with the thought he would never come back to court much less for his gun. [/quote] If this was the cops thinking then he's not very bright. I don't know how GA issues their permits, but my guess is they're not giving them to illegals.

[R_Bert]

thread seems to be veering off into a lot of conjecture.

 

OP - Sherriff Robbie Goins is accessible. Call him. 

 

He is known for 2A support and has fired several deputies including his chief deputy, for their stupidity.

 

PO Box 82 Kentucky Street
Jacksboro, Tennessee 37757

Non-emergency: (423)562-7446
Fax: (423)566-5469

Edited May 7, 2014 by R_Bert