On Saturday June 23, 2007 my wife, my son, and myself went to Academy
Sporting Goods. When we left the house in a good neighborhood of Lake
Charles, LA we noticed about four Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Department
cars on the street near our house. Upon arriving home there were
probably four more Sheriff’s Department cars out front. While we were
eating we noticed Sheriff’s Department cars continually arriving. So
once we were finished eating I decided to ask on of the arriving
Sheriff’s Department Officers what was going on. I went outside in my
front-yard to ask a plain clothes detective that just arrived what was
going on he very dismissively told me “We are looking into something.”
A few minutes later my wife went into the backyard to feed the dog.
While feeding the dog she noticed the Sheriff’s Department Officers in
the neighbors backyard and a lot of rifles. There were approximately 55
to 60 rifles all lined up and tagged against the neighbors shed that
were removed by the officers. There appeared to be some assault rifles
and sniper rifles. There were even some very large drum magazines. I
have hunted all of my life and was an infantryman with the US Army
depolyed in Iraq. So when I tell you there was a large amount of
firearms I am not exaggerating. Click Here to See My Photos. There was also a reporter from KPLC the local NBC affiliate covering the story. Click Here to See KPLC Coverage.
The reporter called an individual with the Sheriff’s Department to find
out what was going on. The individual the reporter spoke with informed
him that someone had told them that the male resident of
the home kept a lot of firearms. The individual also told the reporter
that some illegal firearms had been found and there were enough that
ATF was going to have to take over the investigation. When the reporter
interviews one of the Sheriff’s Officers on the scene he was a lot more
nonchalant about the events. I do not know if the firearms were illegal
or just a gun collection. The only thing that comes to my mind though
is why have ten marked Sheriff’s cars and five unmarked cars which is
at least fifteen officers for a gun collection.
I head up a gun rights group in LA. I spoke with Wayne LaPierre (CEO of the NRA) about this yesterday while he was in town, and he was interested in any more info I could give him. If there is any way anyone reading this could have the man whose guns were seized visit http://louisianacarry.org/misc/contact.htm or call 877 LA CARRY that would be appreciated. I may or may not be able to help, but I would like to try.
I do not think his Fourth Amendment Rights were trounced upon because supposedly it was the woman who lives with him that turned him in. So it was her residence as well and she could allow the police in.
It's so sad that exercising your Second Amendment rights can and often does cause your Fourth Amendment rights to be shat all over.
If somebody does "go off" like the quote in the KPLC coverage says, having 60 guns makes you no more dangerous than having 1. Having 60 guns makes you an enthusiast--a collector. Collectors rarely shoot their guns let alone commit crimes with them. The people who commit crimes usually only "need just one or two."
