Man harassed for having a carry permit

PhotonGuy

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Here is a case of a man being harassed in Maryland for having a carry permit from Florida, even though he wasn't carrying at the time.

Jackson: Gun owner unarmed, unwelcome in Maryland | TBO.com, The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Times

I don't mean to bash law enforcement but why pull over an innocent person who happens to have a carry permit? This man wasn't doing anything illegal and although Im not sure if a Florida carry permit is valid in Maryland, the fact of the matter is this man wasn't carrying at the time he just had a permit to carry. As it is, people are murdered every day. Why don't law enforcement officers go after the real bad guys, people that rape, murder, rob banks, ect. instead of giving a hard time to innocent people like this guy?
 

Buka

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And, believe it or not, there are dickheads in the Martial arts world as well.

Who knew?
 

Transk53

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Cop probably had a bad day or needed his arrest quota bumped up. Still perhaps the cop was being overzealous or maybe not.

Even now, John Filippidis has no idea how the officer learned about his concealed-carry permit, and the MTAP isn’t saying.

Find that quite intriguing.
 

jks9199

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1. We have only Filippis's account. We don't know what drew the officer's attention, nor what justification he used for the stop.
2. MTAP is investigating the incident. During that investigation, they cannot comment. That's rather different than merely refusing to comment.
3. No justification or excuse is needed for an officer to have backup present. Especially if he has reason to believe the subject he's in contact with may be armed. And it's routine to have backup present while searching a car because it is hard to pay attention to the occupants while you're searching the car...
4. I cannot say if Florida is one of the top of my head -- but many states do provide concealed carry information with DMV returns.
5. Reciprocity... According to USA Carry, MD recognizes permits from no other states.
6. Whether or not the mixed accounts from the driver and the passenger amount to probable cause for search is a question for a court. I don't know what other information the officer had to build on that. However, if the officer had information that would have amounted to probabe cause for a search warrant, the Carroll Doctrine permits him to search a vehicle as if he had that warrant in hand.

I'm not saying the officer was automatically right -- but that's a far cry from "harassing someone for having a concealed carry permit." And if it turns out the officer was wrong in his actions, he subject to both internal discipline and even state or federal prosecution. I kind of suspect he believed he was acting within the scope of his authority and his duties.
 
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Dirty Dog

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So there he was, driving along minding his own business when all of a sudden from out of nowhere...

I hear this story all the time in the ER from people "explaining" how their injuries occurred. The vast majority of the time, it turns out to be utter and complete bovine fecal material.

The linked article is about as far from balanced journalism as it is possible to be.

While it's certainly true that LEOs are human and can make mistakes, I find this story implausible and have a strong suspicion that a more balanced and accurate description of the events that day would paint an entirely different picture.

And frankly, this statement
Why don't law enforcement officers go after the real bad guys, people that rape, murder, rob banks, ect. instead of giving a hard time to innocent people like this guy?
is one of the stupidest things I've read today.
 

hongkongfooey

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It's Maryland. What did anyone expect from the state that taxes residents based on the amount of rain that falls on their impervious property?
 

tshadowchaser

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anyone know what the outcome of the investigation was on this incident
 

jks9199

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anyone know what the outcome of the investigation was on this incident

Yes, good question.

Best I can tell -- it went through an internal review and was found to be within policy.:
Mr. Filippidis‘ case earned the support of Second Amendment advocates and subsequent apologies from the MDTA. But an internal police review concluded his stop and search were lawful and did not violate police protocols.
...
MDTA denies it targets out-of-state gun owners and noted the review of Mr. Fillipides earlier traffic stop concluded the officers did nothing wrong.

“The MDTA Police conducted a review of the traffic stop and have concluded that the stop and subsequent search of the vehicle were justified,” spokesman Jonathan Green wrote in an emailed statement. “The investigation did not reveal any violations of law or agency policy.”

The officer who stopped both gun owners is “assigned to the I-95 corridor where there is a large volume of out of state travelers,” Mr. Green said.


Read more: Gun owners fear Maryland police target them for traffic stops - Washington Times
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
 

Brian R. VanCise

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DD I know you have heard the same line, "I was just minden my own business when.....". My wife has dozens of stories from her time in the ER during medical school.
 

Dirty Dog

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DD I know you have heard the same line, "I was just minden my own business when.....". My wife has dozens of stories from her time in the ER during medical school.

It's amazing how often 15 guys with baseball bats just jump out of nowhere and attack people for no earthly reason.
 

jks9199

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And put light bulbs in places you can't mention in polite company, too...
 

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